Brimer v. The Wheat Group, Inc., et al.

The Santa Clara County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Brimer v. The Wheat Group, Inc.; et al. on January 15, 2013.  This enforcement action resolved citizen enforcer Russell Brimer’s allegations that the defendant The Wheat Group, Inc. (“Wheat”) sold backpacks containing the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings. 

As part of the settlement, Wheat agreed not to sell any backpacks in California after January 1, 2013, unless the backpacks contains less than 100 parts per million of lead content when analyzed using state and federally approved testing methodologies.  Should Wheat commit to comply by these heightened standards by December 1, 2012, Brimer agreed to credit a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $40,000, 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.