Brimer v. Valley Han Kook Market, et al.

In the case of Brimer v. Valley Han Kook Market, et al., the Honorable Tricia Ann Bigelow of the Los Angeles County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment on March 15, 2007. In this matter, citizen enforcer Russell Brimer alleged that the defendant, Valley Han Kook Market ("Valley"), sold glassware with colored artwork on the exterior containing the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite Proposition 65 health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Valley agreed not to sell any glassware in California after November 15, 2006, unless the glassware had Proposition 65 warnings provided or contains no more than 0.06 percent of lead in the decorating materials and 0.02 percent of lead in the lip-and-rim area when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. After February 1, 2007, all glassware sold in California by Valley shall qualify as reformulated.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $7,000, to be divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to whistleblower Brimer and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.