Brimer v. Via Technologies, Inc., et al.

Whistleblower Russell Brimer's allegations against the defendant Via Technologies, Inc. ("Via") were resolved on October 4, 2007, when the Alameda County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Brimer v. Via Technologies, Inc., et al. In this matter, Brimer alleged that Via sold motherboards with solder containing the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Via agreed not to sell any motherboards in California after April 30, 2007, unless the motherboards have Proposition 65 warnings provided or contain no more than .1 percent of lead by weight in each solder material, unless the material is embedded in a manner that a consumer or worker would not ordinarily come into contact with the lead during reasonably foreseeable use. By December 31, 2007, Via agreed to use commercially reasonable efforts to ensure that all motherboards sold in California shall qualify as reformulated. Additionally, in a good faith effort to warn the public about the risk of lead exposure, Via agreed to post a Proposition 65 warning on its website for three years. Due to Via's prompt cooperation and commitment to reformulation, Brimer agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine. Should Via complete the voluntary penalty reductions, Brimer agreed to waive an additional portion of the fine.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $109,500, to be divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to citizen enforcer Brimer and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.