Brimer v. Starbucks Corporation, et al.

In the case Brimer v. Starbucks Corporation, the Marin County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment on February 10, 2006. In this enforcement matter, citizen enforcer Russell Brimer alleged that the defendant Starbucks Corporation ("Starbucks") sold ceramic mugs and other glassware products with colored artwork on the exterior surface that contain the heavy metal lead and/or cadmium in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Starbucks agreed not to sell any ceramicware in California after August 15, 2005, unless the glassware and ceramicware have Proposition 65 warnings provided or comply with the reformulation standard when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. Starbucks commits that as a continuing matter of corporate policy, Starbucks intends to advise each of its suppliers that, as a condition of selling products to Starbucks, as many covered products as reasonably possible shall qualify as reformulated. Starbucks will require its suppliers to provide Starbucks with written assurance that each covered products shipment meets reformulation standards pursuant to Section 2.3.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $43,000, to be divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to citizen enforcer Brimer and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.