Brimer v. Kingsbridge International, Inc.

On November 20, 2012, citizen enforcer Russell Brimer and settling defendant Kingsbridge International, Inc. ("Kingsbridge"), entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement, which resolved Brimer's allegations that Kingsbridge sold tools with grips containing the heavy metal lead and 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, Kingsbridge agreed not to manufacture any tools with grips, luggage tags, or tape measures in California after November 20, 2012, unless all accessible components of the products contain no more than 300 parts per million of lead content and yield less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP, butyl benzyl phthalate ("BBP") and Di-n-butyl phthalate ("DBP") when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. Should Kingsbridge reduce the requisite lead maximum concentration from 300 parts per million to 100 parts per million by November 1, 2013, Brimer agreed to waive an additional portion of the civil penalty.  An additional portion of the civil fine was designated as a cy pres settlement to the Silent Spring Institute to be used to continue Silent Spring's work in developing the links between exposure to environmental chemicals (including DEHP, DBP, BBP, and lead) and reproductive and developmental harm.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $42,000, 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.