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See also section of this website entitled "Cosmetics companies" and "Household products companies".

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2003:

Dial settles sex harassment suit [USA] - Lawsuit was among the largest brought by the EEOC since 1994 Mitsubishi settlement - Dial Corp. Tuesday settled a sex harassment lawsuit brought on behalf of 91 female workers at the household products maker's Montgomery, Ill., soap-making plant (Reuters, 29 Apr. 2003)

• Dial OKs $10M Deal in Harassment Case [USA] - Dial Corp. agreed Tuesday to pay $10 million to settle a federal civil suit charging that its female workers were groped, forced to see pornography and called names at a soap-making plant near Chicago. (Mike Robinson, Associated Press, 29 Apr. 2003)

Religious Shareholders to Challenge PepsiCo To Report Effect of AIDS in Africa Operations - Coalition's Resolution Asks Company for Report on Business Impact of AIDS - Concerned PepsiCo shareholders today announced their sponsorship of a proxy resolution asking the soft drink industry giant to report on how it plans to deal with the business and employee impact of the AIDS pandemic in Africa. (MMA, 24 Apr. 2003)

• Activists question faith in PepsiCo - A coalition of religious shareholders, co-ordinated by the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, has filed a proxy resolution urging PepsiCo to outline its plans to deal with the Aids pandemic in its African soft drink and snacks businesses. The resolution is one of several filed against US companies with businesses in Africa. However, the coalition noted that resolutions filed with Colgate-Palmolive, Chevron-Texaco and Ford Motor have been withdrawn because the companies opened dialogue with the shareholders. PepsiCo, meanwhile, has sought to kill the resolution in a proposal to the Securities and Exchange Commission (Betty Liu, Financial Times, 24 Apr. 2003)

Judge decides major punitive damages issue in favor of EEOC [U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] in Dial sexual harassment suit - Trial Set for April 28 in Biggest Sex Harassment Suit Since Landmark Mitsubishi Case (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 13 Feb. 2003)

2002:

Companies Will Pay for Polluting New Jersey Water [USA] - Nineteen polluters will together pay a total of $3 million to compensate the state of New Jersey and East Hanover Township for contamination of the local drinking water supply...The settling parties are: Voltronics Corporation; G & F Management; Vincent and Irene Muccione; Viscot Industries, Inc.; MCE/KDI Corporation; Colgate-Palmolive Company; Deforest Investment Co. L.L.C.; Philomena Gasparine; Estate of Sylvio Gasparine; Prime Fabricators, Inc.; Township of East Hanover; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation; Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation; Dorine Industrial Park Partnership; Precision Rolled Products, Inc.; Phelps Dodge Corporation (f/k/a Cyprus Amax Mineral Company); GTE Operations Support Incorporated; Ingersoll-Rand Company and Royal Lubricants Company, Inc. (Environment News Service, 25 Nov. 2002)

Household chemicals warning - Many chemicals found routinely in products around the home could be damaging our health...Artificial musks - used as fragrances in perfumes, cosmetics and household goods....Phthalates - plastic softeners used in many PVC products, such as children's toys, and in some cosmetics...Bisphenol A - a component of resins used to line food cans...Organotins - heat stabilisers used in approximately 8% of PVC products in Europe. Traces have also been found in some brands of disposable nappies...The makers of Glade air fresheners, and Dove and Physiosport shower gels contained artificial musks...Avon, Olay and Max Factor nail varnishes contained phthalates, while several other manufacturers said they were in the process of "phasing them out", including Boots, L'Oreal, Lancome and Maybelline...Heinz, John West and Princes use Bisphenol A to make food and drink cans, and it is an ingredient of most baby feeding bottles in the UK, including those made by Boots, Mothercare, Tommee Tippee and Avent. (BBC News, 1 Aug. 2002)

Cosmetics full of suspect chemicals, group says - Cosmetics ranging from perfume to hair gel contain chemicals shown to cause birth defects in animals, a group that lobbies on health issues said. (Maggie Fox, Reuters, 12 July 2002)

• First-time product tests find harmful phthalates in many popular fragrances, hair products and deodorants (Health Care without Harm, Environmental Working Group, and Coming Clean, 10 July 2002)

• full report: Not Too Pretty: Phthalates, Beauty Products & the FDA (Health Care without Harm, Environmental Working Group, and Coming Clean, 8 July 2002)

• industry response: Activist group recycles an old campaign - Statement of the Phthalate Esters Panel On Health Care Without Harm Report (Phthalate Esters Panel, Phthalate Information Center, American Chemistry Council Inc., 10 July 2002)

• industry response: Some Incorrect Statements by Health Care Without Harm: Phthalate Esters Panel of the American Chemistry Council Response to HCWH Report on "Aggregate Exposures to Phthalates in Humans" (Phthalate Esters Panel, Phthalate Information Center, American Chemistry Council Inc., 10 July 2002)

Being seen to be green helps corporate image: An FT survey that gave companies plaudits for their environmental record included some surprise choices [includes reference to Body Shop, BP, Royal Dutch/Shell, Toyota, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Vivendi, Honda, Ford, Siemens, GE, IBM, Volkswagen, ExxonMobil, Ben & Jerry's, McDonalds] (Michael Skapinker, Financial Times, 1 Feb. 2002)

• Due recognition given for effort [environmental record of companies, examined in Financial Times Survey of "World's Most Respected Companies"]  (Alison Maitland, Financial Times, 13 Dec. 2001)

• Company rankings [by media & NGOs] - 2001 - Companies that best manage and effect environmental resources (Financial Times, 12 Dec. 2001)

• Company rankings [by CEOs] - 2001 - Companies that best manage and effect environmental resources (Financial Times, 12 Dec. 2001)

Dial Facing Sexual Harassment Suit [USA]: Women Ready to Testify in Key EEOC Action Against Company...Martinez is one of more than 100 women prepared to testify of a years-long pattern of sexual harassment in a sweeping lawsuit the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed in 1999 against Dial Corp. (Kirstin Downey Grimsley, Washington Post, 25 Jan. 2002)

2001:

New WRM [World Rainforest Movement] book on the impacts of oil palm plantations: Soap, lipsticks, chocolate or perfumes are difficult to perceive as products associated to deforestation and human rights abuses in the tropics. However, this can easily be the case when one of their components is palm oil, though few people outside the plantation areas are aware about this. The first aim of this book is thus to highlight the impacts associated with large-scale oil palm plantations by providing a general overview of the problem and a broad range of country-level situations, ranging from articles to detailed case studies in Africa, Asia and Latin America. (WRM Bulletin, World Rainforest Movement, Sep. 2001)

Federal Judge Rules EEOC [U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] Suit Against Dial Soap Can Proceed As Class "Pattern or Practice" Case - Major Victory for Commission in Biggest Sexual Harassment Suit Since Mitsubishi: The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has released the decision of the federal court here holding that the agency's major class sexual harassment lawsuit against the maker of Dial soap will go ahead toward trial. (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 16 Aug. 2001)