Brimer v. Utrecht Manufacturing Corporation

On June 23, 2011, the San Francisco County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Brimer v. Utrecht Manufacturing Corporation, which resolved citizen enforcer Russell Brimer's allegations that the defendant, Utrecht Manufacturing Corporation ("Utrecht"), sold messenger bags containing the heavy metal lead and the phthalate chemicals di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate ("DEHP"), di-n-butyl phthalate ("DBP"), and di-isodecyl phthalate ("DIDP") in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Utrecht agreed not to manufacture or ship in California any messenger bags and carriers after February 28, 2011, unless each accessible component of such bags and carriers complies with the reformulation standards set forth in Section 2 of the Consent Judgment when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. Due to Utrecht's commitment to comply by these heightened standards, Brimer agreed to credit a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $49,800, 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.