Brimer v. Office Depot, Inc.

On June 1, 2012, the San Francisco County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Brimer v. Office Depot, Inc., which resolved citizen enforcer Russell Brimer's allegations that the defendant, Office Depot, Inc. ("Office Depot"), sold colored vinyl-coated paper fasteners containing the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement agreement, Office Depot agreed not to sell any colored paper fasteners in California after January 1, 2012, unless the colored paper fasteners contain less than 300 parts per million of lead in their vinyl coating. Additionally, Office Depot agreed to provide the aforementioned lead standard to its then-current suppliers of colored paper fasteners by July 1, 2012, and request that the suppliers provide paper fasteners that comply with the standard expeditiously.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $237,500, 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.