Brimer v. Four Seasons Design, Incorporated

Posted: 04/08/2011  browse the case archive

On April 8, 2011, citizen enforcer Russell Brimer and settling defendant Four Seasons Design, Incorporated ("Four Seasons") entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement, which resolved Brimer's allegations that Four Seasons sold in-ear stereo headphones, commonly referred to as earbuds, containing the heavy metal lead on the surface of accessible components, including the wires, in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Four Seasons agreed to cease all sales of headphone wires/cables in California after April 15, 2011, unless the headphone wires/cables contain less than 100 parts per million of lead when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or have Proposition 65 warnings provided. Due to Four Seasons' commitment to comply by these heightened standards and cooperation during the settlement process, Brimer agreed to credit a portion of the civil penalties that would otherwise be applied.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $30,500, 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.

Download PDF

It appears your Web browser is not configured to display PDF files. No worries, just click here to download the PDF file.