Leeman v. Firehouse Restaurant, Inc.

The parties in the enforcement action Leeman v. Firehouse Restaurant executed a Consent Judgment on October 21, 2013, which resolved citizen enforcer Whitney R. Leeman, Ph.D.’s allegations that the defendant Firehouse Restaurant, Inc. (“Firehouse”) 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, Firehouse agreed not to sell any flame-cooked ground beef products in California after October 21, 2013, unless the restaurant posts Proposition 65 warnings pursuant to Section 2.1 of the Consent Judgment or the ground beef meets the reformulation standards of Section 2.3.  Additionally, Firehouse agreed to conduct compliance reviews to ensure continued compliance with Section 2.1 at least twice a year for three years, beginning on November 30, 2013.  

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $16,000, 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.