Judgment Date:
06/22/2021
Settlement reported to AG:
Case Name:
Environmental Research Center, Inc. v. Detox Organics, LLC
Court Name:
Alameda County Superior Court
Plaintiff:
Environmental Research Center, Inc.
Defendant:
Detox Organics, LLC
Morellifit, LLC
MMorelli, LLC
Injunctive Relief:
3.1 Beginning on the Effective Date, Detox Organics shall be permanently enjoined from manufacturing for sale in the State of California, “Distributing into the State of California,” or directly selling in the State of California, any Covered Product that exposes a person to a “Daily Lead Exposure Level” of more than 0.5 micrograms of lead per day unless it meets the warning requirements under Section 3.2. The injunctive relief requirements imposed in Section 3 of this Consent Judgment shall be in effect only during time periods in which Detox Organics employs ten or more persons. If Detox Organics contends that the injunctive relief requirements in Section 3 of this Consent Judgment are not in effect because Detox Organics no longer employs ten or more persons, Detox Organics must take the following actions: (a) send ERC written notification within fifteen (15) days of invoking relief under this Section; (b) provide ERC with copies of the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form 941 (“Form 941”) for the quarter during which Detox Organics provides the notification and the immediately preceding quarter; and (c) provide ERC with a copies of the Form 941 either: (i) for the four calendar quarters following the quarter during which notification was provided pursuant to this Section 3.1 or (ii) for each quarter, following the quarter during which notification was provided pursuant to this Section 3.1, until Detox Organics employs ten or more people, whichever comes first. If the number of persons employed by Detox Organics increases to ten or more at any time after the date that Detox Organics notifies ERC that the number of its employees was less than ten, Detox Organics shall send ERC a written notification that the number of Detox Organics’s employees has increased to ten or more within thirty (30) days after the date that the number of Detox Organics’s employees increases to ten or more. Detox Organics shall provide each Form 941 referenced herein to ERC within thirty (30) days from the date it is provided to the IRS.
*Non-Contingent Civil Penalty:
$ 51,000.00
Attorney(s) Fees and Costs:
$ 6,152.00
Payment in Lieu of Penalty:
$ 37,848.00 ((Amounts rounded. Actual amounts: Civil Penalty: $51,000.00, Atty Fees & Costs: $6,152.31, ASP: $37,847.69) 4.4 $37,847.69 shall be distributed to ERC as an Additional Settlement Payment (“ASP”), pursuant to California Code of Regulations, title 11, sections 3203, subdivision (d) and 3204. ERC will utilize the ASP for activities that address the same public harm as allegedly caused by Defendant in this matter. These activities are detailed
below and support ERC’s overarching goal of reducing and/or eliminating hazardous and toxic chemicals in dietary supplement products in California. ERC’s activities have had, and will continue to have, a direct and primary effect within the State of California because California consumers will be benefitted by the reduction and/or elimination of exposure to lead in dietary supplements and/or by providing clear and reasonable warnings to California consumers prior to ingestion of the products.
Based on a review of past years’ actual budgets, ERC is providing the following list of activities ERC engages in to protect California consumers through Proposition 65 citizen enforcement, along with a breakdown of how ASP funds will be utilized to facilitate those activities: (1) ENFORCEMENT (65-80%): obtaining, shipping, analyzing, and testing dietary supplement products that may contain lead and are sold to California consumers. This work includes continued monitoring and enforcement of past consent judgments and settlements to ensure companies are in compliance with their obligations thereunder, with a specific focus on those judgments and settlements concerning lead. This work also includes investigation of new companies that ERC does not obtain any recovery through settlement or judgment; (2) VOLUNTARY COMPLIANCE PROGRAM (10-20%): maintaining ERC’s Voluntary Compliance Program by acquiring products from companies, developing and maintaining a case file, testing products from these companies, providing the test results and supporting documentation to the companies, and offering guidance in warning or implementing a self-testing program for lead in dietary supplement products; and (3) “GOT LEAD” PROGRAM (up to 5%): maintaining ERC’s “Got Lead?” Program which reduces the numbers of contaminated products that reach California consumers by providing access to free testing for lead in dietary supplement products (Products submitted to the program are screened for ingredients which are suspected to be contaminated, and then may be purchased by ERC, catalogued, sent to a qualified laboratory for testing, and the results shared with the consumer that submitted the product).
ERC shall be fully accountable in that it will maintain adequate records to document
and will be able to demonstrate how the ASP funds will be spent and can assure that the funds are being spent only for the proper, designated purposes described in this Consent Judgment. ERC shall provide the Attorney General, within thirty days of any request, copies of documentation demonstrating how such funds have been spent.)
Total Payments:
$ 95,000.00
Is Judgment Pursuant to Settlement?
Contact Organization:
Environmental Research Center, Inc.
Address:
3111 Camino Del Rio North
City, State, Zip:
San Diego, CA 92108
Phone Number:
(619) 500-3090
