Brimer v. Van Group, Inc., et al.

Citizen enforcer Russell Brimer's allegations against the settling party Van Group, Inc. were resolved on March 28, 2005, when the parties entered an out-of-court settlement agreement. Brimer alleged that Van sold decorated glassware containing the heavy metals lead and cadmium in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Van agreed not to sell any decorated glassware in California after February 19, 2005, unless the glassware has Proposition 65 warnings provided or complies with the reformulation standards when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. Brimer agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine if Van provided written certification that all glassware sold in California after March 15, 2006, qualifies as reformulated.

The agreement required settlement payments of $31,700, to be divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which were paid to California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and the remainder as compensation to whistleblower Brimer and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.