Brimer v. Nordic Group of Companies, Ltd.

Settling party Nordic Group of Companies, Ltd. (“Nordic”) and citizen enforcer Russell Brimer entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement on September 20, 2013, resolving Brimer’s allegations that Nordic sold portfolio cases containing the phthalate chemicals di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (“DEHP”) and di-n-butyl phthalate (“DBP”) and messenger bags containing DEHP and the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Nordic agreed not to sell any portfolio cases or messenger bags in California after July 31, 2013, unless the products comply with the reformulation standards when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or have Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Nordic eliminate the need for Proposition 65 warnings by July 31, 2013, and continuing on into the future, Brimer agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $37,500, 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.