Brimer v. Jazwares, Inc.

The parties involved in the enforcement action Brimer v. Jazwares, Inc. executed a Consent Judgment on July 12, 2013, which resolved citizen enforcer Russell Brimer’s allegations that the defendant Jazwares, Inc. (“Jazwares”) sold headphones 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, Jazwares agreed not to sell any headphones in California after March 1, 2014, unless the headphones contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Additionally, by July 22, 2013, Jazwares agreed to provide the reformulation standards to its vendors and instruct them to provide headphones that comply expeditiously.  Should Jazwares provide written certification that all of the headphones qualify as reformulated by March 15, 2014, Brimer agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.  In lieu of additional civil penalties, Jazwares agreed to make a cy pres payment to Silent Spring Institute, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to identifying the links between exposure to environmental chemicals (including DEHP) and reproductive and developmental harm.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $98,500, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, the cy pres payment, and compensation to whistleblower Brimer and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.