Leeman v. Barney's Restaurant, et al.

On September 26, 2008, citizen enforcer Whitney R. Leeman, Ph.D. and settling defendant Barney’s Restaurant (“Barney’s”) entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement, which resolved Leeman’s allegations that Barney’s sold flame-broiled hamburgers containing the chemicals benz[a]anthracene, benzo[a]pyrene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, and indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings. 

As part of the settlement, Barney’s agreed not to sell any flame-broiled hamburgers in California after September 30, 2008, unless the restaurants post Proposition 65 warnings that substantially comply with the criteria set forth in Section 4 of the Settlement Agreement.  Additionally, Barney’s agreed to perform a compliance review of its restaurants at least twice between September 30, 2008 and September 30, 2009.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $50,000, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to whistleblower Leeman and her counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.