Overview
Law360 cited Carol Brophy in an October 12 article titled "Breaking Down the Prop 65 Trial That Has Starbucks on Edge." The article discusses how dozens of companies that sell coffee in California – including Starbucks, Peet's, The Coca-Cola Co. and Kraft – will try to convince a Los Angeles Superior Court judge that they shouldn't pay any penalties for violating the state's cancer-warning statute Proposition 65 in the final phase of a long-brewing case about the presence of the chemical acrylamide in coffee. The coffee companies have already lost two trials in the eight-year-old case, leading to a ruling that they violated Proposition 65.
Brophy notes that Proposition 65 civil penalties are applied at a judge's discretion based on several factors, such as the severity of a chemical exposure and the businesses' efforts to fix the problem. She also tells Law360 that as defendants like Starbucks and Peet's began placing Proposition 65 warnings on their premises after they lost the Phase 2 trial, they will have a solid case that no civil penalties should be applied.
The full article can be read at Law360 (subscription required).
