Brimer v. Zebra Pen Corp.

Posted: 02/19/2013  browse the case archive

The parties involved in the case Brimer v. Zebra Pen Corp., et al. executed a Consent Judgment on February 19, 2013, which resolved citizen enforcer Russell Brimer’s allegations that the defendant Zebra Pen Corp. (“Zebra”) sold pencils with erasers 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, Zebra agreed not to sell any pencils with erasers in California after the Alameda Court approves the Consent Judgment, unless the pencils contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Should Zebra sell only reformulated pencils in California by February 19, 2013, and continuing into the future, Brimer agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.  In lieu of further civil penalties, Zebra shall make a cy pres payment to the Silent Spring Institute to continue its work identifying the links between exposure to environmental chemicals (including DEHP) and developmental and reproductive harm. 

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $59,300, 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.   

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