Brimer v. Coats & Clark Inc.

On August 2, 2010, the San Francisco County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Brimer v. ACCO Brands Corporation, et al., which resolved citizen enforcer Russell Brimer's allegations that the defendant Coats & Clark Inc. ("Coats & Clark") sold vinyl coated tape measures containing the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement agreement, Coats & Clark agreed not to sell any vinyl coated tape measures in California after April 23, 2010, unless the tape measures contain less than 100 parts per million of lead content when analyzed using state and federally approved testing methodologies. Additionally, Coats & Clark agreed to notify all of its vendors and request that the tape measures existing in inventory are either returned to Coats & Clark or labeled with Proposition 65 warnings.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $20,900, 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.