Brimer v. IFG Corp.

On June 28, 2018, citizen enforcer Russell Brimer and settling party IFG Corp. (“IFG”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement. Brimer had alleged that IFG sold handbags containing the phthalate chemical di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (“DEHP”) in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, IFG agreed not to sell any handbags in California after June 22, 2018, unless the handbags contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or have Proposition 65 warnings included.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $26,500, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to citizen enforcer Vinocur and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.