Brimer v. HP Industries, Inc., et al.

On December 30, 2008, citizen enforcer Russell Brimer and settling defendant HP Industries, Inc. ("HP") entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement, which resolved Brimer's allegations that HP sold key chains containing the heavy metal lead in the State of California without the health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, HP agreed not to sell any key chains in California after December 30 2008, unless the key chains have Proposition 65 warnings provided or contain no more than 0.1 percent of lead when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $12,500, 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.