Brimer v. Service Tool Company, L.L.C.

On November 27, 2012, the Marin County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Brimer v. Service Tool Company, L.L.C., which resolved citizen enforcer Russell Brimer's allegations that the defendant Service Tool Company, L.L.C. ("Service Tool"), sold tape measures with hand straps containing the heavy metal lead and the phthalate chemical di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate ("DEHP") and hand tool grips containing lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Service Tool agreed not to sell any tape measures in California unless all accessible components of such tape measures contain less than 100 parts per million of lead and no more than  1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally testing methodologies. Should Service Tool comply with these heightened standards by September 30, 2012, Brimer agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $42,000, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are 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.