Brimer v. Warner Manufacturing Company

On November 7, 2012, the Marin County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Brimer v. Warner Manufacturing Company, which resolved citizen enforcer Russell Brimer's allegations that the defendant Warner Manufacturing Company ("Warner") sold tools with grips containing the heavy metal lead and the phthalate chemical di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate ("DEHP") in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Warner agreed not to sell any tools with grips in California after May 1, 2012, unless the tools with grips were reformulated to comply with the reformulation standards set forth in Sections 2.5 and 2.6 of the Consent Judgment. Warner also agreed to provide the reformulation requirements to its then-current vendors of tools with grips and instruct each vendor to comply with the standards expeditiously. Due to Warner's commitment to comply with these heightened standards, Brimer agreed to credit Warner with a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $91,500, 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.