Brimer v. Universal Screen Arts, Inc.; Signals Catalogue Corp.; Lillian Vernon Corporation; Casual Living USA, Inc., and RedEnvelope, Inc., et al.

In the case Brimer v. Universal Screen Arts, Inc.; et al. the Honorable James L. Warren entered a Consent Judgment on January 12, 2006. In this matter, citizen enforcer Russell Brimer alleged that the defendants Universal Screen Arts, Inc., Signals Catalogue Corp., Lillian Vernon Corporation, Casual Living USA, Inc., and RedEnvelope, Inc. (collectively "Defendants") have sold products containing (or that cause exposure to) the heavy metal lead and/or cadmium in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Defendants agreed not to sell any covered products in California after October 17, 2005, unless the products have Proposition 65 warnings provided or comply with the reformulation standards when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. Each Defendant commits to undertake good faith efforts to ensure that as many products as reasonably possible that it offers for sale in California shall either qualify as reformulated or be exempt from warning requirements, with the commitment to reformulate least 80% of covered products manufactured after December 31, 2006, and reasonably likely to be sold in California, and to make all commercially reasonable efforts to sell 100% reformulated products in California after January 1, 2007.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $236,000, 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. A certain portion of the plaintiff's fees was designated for Dr. Whitney Leeman in recognition of her professional expertise and assistance in this matter.