Leeman v. Briggs Medical Service Company

The parties involved in the case Leeman v. Briggs Medical Service Company executed a Consent Judgment on September 22, 2016.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Whitney R. Leeman, Ph.D. alleged that Briggs Medical Service Company (“Briggs”) sold vinyl/PVC gloves containing the phthalate chemical diisononyl phthalate (“DINP”) in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.  

As part of the agreement, Briggs agreed not to sell any vinyl/PVC gloves in California ten days after the Alameda County Superior Court enters the Judgment, unless the gloves contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DINP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies OR have Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Briggs provide Leeman with certification on or before October 15, 2016 that all vinyl/PVC gloves sold in California qualify as reformulated according to the above terms, Leeman has agreed to waive a portion of the civil penalty that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of up to $34,000, 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.