Brimer v. Southwest Specialty Foods, Inc.

On July 1, 2009, the San Francisco County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Brimer v. Southwest Specialty Foods, Inc., which resolved citizen enforcer Russell Brimer's allegations that the defendant Southwest Specialty Foods, Inc. ("Southwest") sold mugs and other ceramic containers intended for the consumption of food or beverages with colored artwork or designs on the exterior surface containing the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Southwest agreed not to sell the specific mug identified in the Consent Judgment in California after May 30, 2009, unless the mug is reformulated, shipped with Proposition 65 warnings, or manufactured before April 30, 2009. After October 31, 2009, Southwest agreed not to sell mugs in California unless it meets the reformulation standards of Section 2.3(b) of the Consent Judgment.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $13,500, 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.