Brimer v. Wilton Industries, Inc.; et al.

On February 1, 2011, the Alameda County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Brimer v. Wilton Industries, Inc.; et al., which resolved citizen enforcer Russell Brimer's allegations that the defendants Wilton Industries, Inc. and Wilton Brands, Inc. (collectively, "Wilton") sold coated decorative staple bars containing the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Wilton agreed not to sell decorative staple bars in California after February 1, 2011, unless each accessible component of such staple bars contains less than or equal to 90 parts per million of lead for the paint and surface coatings on the staple bars and less than or equal to 100 parts per million of lead in all other component parts of the staple bags when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. Due to Wilton's commitment to comply by these heightened standards, Brimer agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $72,000, 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.