I had a 2003 Camry and found this out the hard way - by getting into an accident!
My in-laws have a '03 and the same thing happens. I approached Toyota in via technical & Legal dept - their response - the brake lever is some sort of 'compound leverage' arrangement and actually designed as such.
Hogwash IMHO!
If you search the NTSA site you will see numerous complaints to this effect.
