Brimer v. Rite Aid Corporation

The parties involved in the case Brimer v. Rite Aid Corporation executed a Consent Judgment on November 12, 2014.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Russell Brimer alleged that Rite Aid Corporation (“Rite Aid”) sold water sprayers with metal nozzles containing the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.  

As part of the agreement, Rite Aid agreed not to sell any water sprayers with metal nozzles in California after November 12, 2014, unless the sprayers contain no more than 90 parts per million of lead when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or Proposition 65 warnings are provided.  Additionally, Rite Aid agreed to notify its vendors of the reformulation standards and instruct them to provide water sprayers that comply with these standards expeditiously.  Should Rite Aid provide written certification by September 15, 2014 that all water sprayers with metal nozzles sold in California qualify as reformulated, Brimer agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $56,700, 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.