Brimer v. Lion Supermarket, et al.

In the case Brimer v. Lion Supermarket, et al., the San Francisco County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment on August 8, 2007. In this matter, citizen enforcer Russell Brimer alleged that the defendant Lion Supermarket ("Lion") sold glass bottles and other glassware with colored artwork containing the heavy metal lead on the exterior in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Lion agreed not to sell any of the glassware identified in the Consent Judgment in California after October 5, 2006, unless the bottles contain no more than 0.06 percent of lead when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or have Proposition 65 warnings provided. Due to Lion's prompt cooperation, Brimer agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine. Should Lion eliminate the need for Proposition 65 warnings on the glass bottles by January 1, 2007, Brimer agreed to waive an additional portion of the civil fine.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $19,500, to be 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.