Holding corporations accountable for lead paint that poisons California children in their homes

In 2013, our Office and nine other California cities and counties won a landmark $1.15 billion judgment against companies that manufactured lead paint in the United States before the federal government banned lead paint for residential use in 1978. We filed this case in 2000. We argued that the companies should be held responsible under California’s public nuisance law for cleaning up lead paint that continues to pollute millions of homes in California and is the leading cause of childhood lead poisoning. Studies link even small amounts of lead exposure in childhood to serious and irreversible health problems, including brain damage.  

The court’s judgment found the paint manufacturers liable for marketing lead paint as a safe product even though they knew it was highly toxic, especially to children. And it required the manufacturers to fund the cleanup of lead paint, as well as a public education and outreach campaign to community members. After the case went up on appeal, we reached a settlement with the paint manufacturers in 2019 that required them to pay $305 million to clean up lead paint hazards. 

In addition to winning a victory for California residents, we also won an important legal battle as part of the Lead Paint case. Early on, the paint companies moved to prevent the County and our partners from litigating the case with the assistance of private contingency-fee counsel. But in 2010, the California Supreme Court confirmed that we have the right to hire private counsel paid using contingency fees. (See County of Santa Clara v. Superior Court (Atlantic Richfield Co.) (2010) 50 Cal.4th 35.)