Brimer v. Deluxe Corporation

The parties involved in the enforcement action Brimer v. Deluxe Corporation, et al. executed a Consent Judgment on January 27, 2014, which resolved citizen enforcer Russell Brimer’s allegations that the defendant Deluxe Corporation (“Deluxe”) sold checkbook covers containing the phthalate chemical di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (“DEHP”) in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings. 

As part of the settlement, Deluxe agreed not to sell any checkbook covers in California after January 1, 2014, unless the checkbook covers contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or have Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Deluxe provide written certification that at least 50 percent of the checkbooks qualify as reformulated by June 1, 2014, Brimer agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.  Additionally, should Deluxe certify that at least 70 percent of the checkbooks are reformulated by January 1, 2015, and/or that at least 90 percent of the checkbook covers are reformulated by June 1, 2015, Brimer agreed to waive additional portions of the civil fine.  In lieu of further civil penalties, Deluxe agreed to make a cy pres payment to Silent Spring Institute, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to identifying the links between exposure to environmental chemicals (including DEHP) and reproductive and developmental harm.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $229,500, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, the cy pres payment, and compensation to whistleblower Brimer and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.