Brimer v. Arte Italica, Ltd., et al.

On January 18, 2007, the San Francisco County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Brimer v. Arte Italica, Ltd., et al., which resolved citizen enforcer Russell Brimer's allegations that the defendant, Arte Italica, Ltd. ("Arte Italica"), sold cereal bowls and other ceramic containers with pewter that contain the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Arte Italica agreed not to sell any ceramic containers in California after September 30, 2006, unless the ceramic containers are sold or shipped with Proposition 65 warnings or contain no more than .1 percent of lead (or, if the bowls are pewter, contain no more than .02 percent of lead) when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. Arte Italica commits that all of the ceramic containers it offers for sale in California after February 1, 2007, shall qualify as reformulated. Should Arte Italica eliminate the need for Proposition 65 warnings by January 15, 2007, Brimer agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $54,500, to be divided between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to whistleblower Brimer and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.