Brimer v. Wolters Kluwer United States Inc. and Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.

The parties in the case Brimer v. Wolters Kluwer United States Inc. executed a Consent Judgment on March 7, 2013, which resolved citizen enforcer Russell Brimer’s allegations that the defendants Wolters Kluwer United States Inc. and Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. (collectively “Wolters”) sold vinyl/PVC notebooks containing 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, Wolters agreed not to sell any notebooks in California after March 15, 2013, unless the notebooks contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or have the appropriate Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Wolters eliminate the need for Proposition 65 warnings on the notebooks by August 1, 2013, Brimer agreed to credit a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied. 

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $57,000, 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.