Brimer v. Picnic Time, Inc.

On February 23, 2011, the Alameda County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Brimer v. Picnic Time, Inc., which resolved citizen enforcer Russell Brimer's allegations that the defendant Picnic Time, Inc. ("Picnic Time"), sold tote bag products containing the heavy metal lead and phthalate chemicals including di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate ("DEHP") and di-n-butyl phthalate ("DBP") in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Picnic Time agreed not to manufacture or ship any tote bag products in California after November 30, 2011, unless the tote bag products contain less than 1.0 microgram of lead and less than 100 parts per million of lead when analyzed using state and federally approved testing methodologies, and contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP and DBP when analyzed using state and federally approved testing methodologies.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $56,000, 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.