Leeman v. Craftworks Restaurants & Breweries, Inc. and Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant Group, Inc.

The parties in the enforcement action Leeman v. Craftworks Restaurants & Breweries, Inc.; Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant Group, Inc. executed a Consent Judgment on June 12, 2013, which resolved citizen enforcer Whitney R. Leeman, Ph.D.’s allegations that the defendants Craftworks Restaurants & Breweries, Inc. (“Craftworks”) and Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant Group, Inc. (“Gordon Biersch”) sold flame-cooked ground beef containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, including 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, Craftworks agreed not to sell any flame-cooked ground beef products in California after July 12, 2013, unless the restaurant posts Proposition 65 warnings pursuant to Section 2.1 of the Consent Judgment.  Additionally, Craftworks agreed to conduct compliance reviews to ensure continued compliance with Section 2.1. at least once a year for five years, beginning on July 12, 2013.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $95,000, 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.