Brimer v. Hopkins Manufacturing Corp. and Carrand Companies, Inc.

On April 29, 2011, the Alameda County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Brimer v. Hopkins Manufacturing Corp; et al., which resolved citizen enforcer Russell Brimer's allegations that the defendants Hopkins Manufacturing Corp. ("Hopkins") and Carrand Companies, Inc. ("Carrand") sold padlocks containing the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Hopkins and Carrand agreed not to sell any padlocks in California after December 31, 2010, unless the padlocks contain less than 1.0 microgram of lead when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $22,000, 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.