Brimer v. Sanrio, Inc., et al.

The Superior Court of California for the City and County of San Francisco entered a Consent Judgment on May 3, 2005 in Brimer v. Sanrio, Inc., et al., which resolved citizen enforcer Russell Brimer's allegations that defendant Sanrio sold drinking glasses and other tableware with colored artwork or designs (containing lead) on the exterior in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Sanrio agreed not to sell any such products in California after January 31, 2005, unless such products have Proposition 65 warnings provided or are exempt from the health hazard warnings because they were manufactured prior to December 31, 2004, or are reformulated in accordance with the standards set forth in Section 2.3 of the Consent Judgment.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $70,000, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which were 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.