Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani Orange County Partner Ryan Landis obtained a dismissal for a construction material supply company in a civil action brought under California’s Safe Drinking Water & Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Prop 65).
The private enforcer plaintiff alleged that the company manufactured and/or distributed certain lead roofing materials sold into California that purportedly exposed consumers to lead above levels that the plaintiff claims would require a Prop 65 warning. The private enforcer’s counsel sought more than one million dollars in civil penalties, as well as attorney fees and costs under the California civil enforcer statute.
The plaintiff’s counsel pursued formal litigation of the matter. The court issued a favorable ruling for GRSM’s client with respect to a jurisdictional challenge, although the plaintiff was permitted to conduct discrete discovery on the issue. Then, the discovery judge in the matter agreed with GRSM’s arguments and promulgated a position at an Informal Discovery Conference that set forth significant challenges to the plaintiff’s case. The plaintiff continued to issue a high demand, but as a further hearing on the motion to quash neared, the plaintiff agreed to dismiss the action.
The dismissal is significant as the same private enforcer has filed more than 150 similar actions in various courts throughout California with almost all of the actions still pending after six months to a year of protracted litigation and discovery. The dismissal obtained by Landis saved the client tens of thousands of dollars in defense costs.
Learn more about GRSM’s Environmental & Toxic Tort practice.