Brimer v. Consolidated Shoe Company Incorporated

On January 20, 2012, the Marin County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Brimer v. Consolidated Shoe Company Incorporated, which resolved citizen enforcer Russell Brimer's allegations that the defendant, Consolidated Shoe Company Incorporated ("Consolidated"), sold certain footwear containing the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Consolidated agreed not to sell in California any footwear after November 15, 2011, unless such footwear is "lead free" pursuant to the standards set forth in section 2.4 of the Consent Judgment. Consolidated also agreed to place Proposition 65 warnings on footwear it does not reformulate.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $59,400, 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.