Terminix pest company to pay $3.15 million to settle California lawsuit alleging environmental violations
Pest control company Terminix has agreed to pay $3.15 million to settle a lawsuit brought by 29 California counties alleging the company unlawfully disposed of pesticides and violated customer privacy laws.
Tennessee-based Terminix, a subsidiary of U.K.-based Rentokil Initial PLC, was accused of disposing pesticides and hazardous waste in company waste bins destined for municipal landfills across the state.
According to the lawsuit, from 2021 through 2024, district attorney investigators across the state conducted undercover waste inspections and found items such as pesticides, batteries, e-waste, and cleaning solutions in outgoing waste bins.
The inspections also showed customers' records disposed of without first being shredded or made unreadable in violation of California privacy laws, the lawsuit alleged.
The settlement noted that when notified by the district attorneys of the unlawful disposals, Terminix cooperated and quickly responded to prevent further violations of disposal and privacy laws. As part of the settlement, Terminix will need to employ a third-party auditor to conduct waste audits for seven years at a minimum of 10% of its facilities, some selected randomly and others at high-risk locations.
The Alameda County District Attorney's Office led the prosecution of the case with assistance from the Monterey, Sonoma, and San Bernardino County District Attorneys' Offices. Other county DAs' offices named as parties in the lawsuit and receiving a portion of the settlement were Butte, Contra Costa, Fresno, Humboldt, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Marin, Merced, Orange, Placer, Riverside, Sacramento, San Diego, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Shasta, Solano, Stanislaus, Tulare, Ventura, and Yolo counties, and the Los Angeles city attorney.
