Brimer v. Bird in Hand, Inc., et al.

On August 8, 2007, the San Francisco County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Brimer v. Bird in Hand, Inc., et al., which resolved citizen enforcer Russell Brimer's allegations that the defendant, Bird in Hand, Inc. ("Bird"), sold pint glasses and other glassware with colored artwork on the surface containing the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Bird agreed not to sell any glassware in California after December 19, 2006, unless the glassware is sold or shipped with Proposition 65 warnings or contains no more than .06 percent of lead when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. All of the glassware sold by Bird in California after March 1, 2007, shall qualify as reformulated. Due to Bird's prompt cooperation during the settlement process, Brimer agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine. Should Bird eliminate the need for Proposition 65 warnings for the glassware, Brimer agreed to waive an additional portion of the civil fine.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $24,500, to be divided therein 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.