Brimer v. DMI Sports, Inc.

The Honorable Ronni B. MacLaren of the Alameda County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment on January 24, 2013, in Brimer v. DMI Sports, Inc., which resolved citizen enforcer Russell Brimer’s allegations that the defendant DMI Sports, Inc. (“DMI”) sold table tennis sets containing the heavy metal lead and 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, DMI agreed not to sell any table tennis sets in California after November 12, 2012, unless the table tennis sets comply with the Lead and Phthalate Standards set forth in Section 2.1 of the Consent Judgment.  Table tennis sets in inventory may be sold with Proposition 65 warnings pursuant to Section 2.2 of the Consent Judgment.  Should DMI eliminate the need for Proposition 65 warnings by December 10, 2012, Brimer agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $73,000, 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.