Brimer v. Grand Star Industrial Limited

The parties involved in the case Brimer v. Grand Star Industrial Limited executed a Consent Judgment on November 3, 2014.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Russell Brimer alleged that Grand Star Industrial Limited (“Grand Star”) sold travel manicure sets with vinyl/PVC cases containing the phthalate chemical di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.  

As part of the agreement, Grand Star agreed not to sell any travel manicure sets with vinyl/PVC cases in California after the Santa Clara Superior Court approves the settlement, unless the cases contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Additionally, Grand Star agreed to notify its vendors and instruct them to provide cases that comply with these standards expeditiously.  Should Grand Star provide written certification that all travel manicure sets with vinyl/PVC cases sold in California qualify as reformulated by March 1, 2015, Brimer agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $48,000, 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.