Brimer v. Central Purchasing, LLC, Harbor Freight Tools USA, Inc.

On March 27, 2012, the Alameda County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Brimer v. Central Purchasing, LLC, et al., which resolved citizen enforcer Russell Brimer's allegations that the defendants Central Purchasing and Harbor Freight Tools USA, Inc. (collectively "Defendants") sold tape measures containing the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, the Defendants agreed not to sell any tape measures in California unless the tape measures contain less than 300 parts per million of lead when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. The Defendants also agreed to place Proposition 65 warnings on the tape measures they did not reformulate. Should the Defendants eliminate the need for Proposition 65 warnings on the tape measures by January 31, 2012, Brimer agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $65,500, 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.