The North Face will pay $207,500 to settle a lawsuit by the Environmental Protection Agency of the U.S. alleging that shoes claimed to kill bacteria were never actually tested. Although the more than 30 styles contained pesticides, they had never been tested. They used topsheets by Agion in the footbeds. Agion has developed a silver-based antimicrobial technology used by such brands as Adidas, ECCO, Columbia and Timberland. The North Face claimed that they could inhibit the growth of disease-causing bacteria.