Brimer v. John D. Brush & Co., Inc. dba the Sentry Group

Citizen enforcer Russell Brimer had his allegations against the defendant John D. Brush & Co., Inc. dba the Sentry Group (“Sentry”) resolved when the parties executed a Consent Judgment on March 27, 2013.  In the case Brimer v. John D. Brush & Co., Inc., Brimer alleged that Sentry sold portable safes with vinyl/PVC cables 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, Sentry agreed not to sell any portable safes with vinyl/PVC cables in California after April 1, 2013, unless the safes contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Should Sentry provide written certification that it is only selling reformulated safes in California by April 1, 2013, and continuing into the future, Brimer agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied. 

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $83,000, 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.