Brimer v. Hypnotic Hats, Ltd.

On December 6, 2011, the Marin County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Brimer v. Hypnotic Hats, Ltd., which resolved citizen enforcer Russell Brimer's allegations that the defendant Hypnotic Hats, Ltd. ("Hypnotic Hats"), sold Pink Cookie Fashion Belts containing the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Hypnotic Hats agreed not sell any belts in California after August 29, 2011, unless the belts contain less than 300 parts per million of lead when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. For a brief six-month period, Hypnotic Hats shall also place Proposition 65 warnings on any belts that do not meet reformulation standards, after which time all belts must comply with the standards. Additionally, Hypnotic Hats agreed to notify its then-current vendors of belts and instruct the vendors to either return the belts or label them with Proposition 65 warnings. Should Hypnotic Hats comply with the optional heightened standards of Section 4.2 of the Consent Judgment, Brimer shall waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $47,000, 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.