A federal judge approved the Juul Class action lawsuit settlement with the e-cigarette company Jull Labs and its parent company, Altria. This settlement brought more than $300 million.
Jull and other e-cigarette users have been filing vaping lawsuits against vape manufacturers after developing lung injuries, seizures, and strokes. Many e-cigarette lawsuits claim individual became addicted to e-cigarettes, which worsened their health conditions.
The lawsuit was filed in 2018, and the plaintiffs charged Juul with misleading the public about the addictiveness and the risk of e-cigarettes and nicotine cartridges. The claim was made that the pre-filled pods contained the same amount of nicotine as a pack of cigarettes, which have higher levels.
The plaintiffs also said Jull had targeted teenagers with candy-flavored Juul pods and ‘multimillion-dollar ad campaigns and social media imagery.’ This case had several hurdles, such as the judge denying multiple motions to dismiss the suit and agreeing to certify four different classes of plaintiffs. Altria and Juul own 35% of the e-cigarette makers and appealed for class certification.
In January, the judge approved a $255 million settlement between Juul Labs and the Plaintiffs. Friday’s ruling grants $45,531,250 to Altria’s payment, and the sides must agree on attorneys’ fees.
US District Judge William Orrick wrote that the court found that this monetary recovery is a fair, reasonable, and adequate risk of proceeding to trial and the maximum recovery available to settlement class members if the class representative had prevailed at the trial.
In the settlement, Jull agreed to pay $462 million to settle claims that it had marketed vaping products to teenagers. The year before, it also agreed to pay $438.5 million to 33 states, including Puerto Rico.
In 2015, Jull became the dominant e-cigarette company in the United States, with a market share of 72% by the fall of 2018.
The company faced so much backlash against vaping and other flavored nicotine cartridges. During the next four, Jull agreed to pull flavors from shelves, and the market shares were down to 28 % in fall 2022.
The Food and Drug Administration denied authorization for Jill to continue selling products in 2022. According to Orrick’s order, 197 people have submitted requests to the settlement class. Almost over 14 million claims have been submitted, many of which are believed to be duplicates or fraudulent.
The judge wrote that the total number of claims will be reduced, with current estimates putting the number of valid claims around 2 million. The settlement will be divided according to how much money the claimants spent on Juul products in the United States before 6 December 2022.
Why E-Cigarette Lawsuits Are Being Filed?
Many e-cigarette lawsuits target international companies for their vaping products to teens and deceive customers about their addiction to vaping. The e-cigarette lawsuits have been growing and rapidly increasing among teens and young people.
The US surgeon said ‘there is an e-cigarette epidemic among youth, and many e-cog lawsuits have been filed by young adults or parents who were unaware of the side effects of vaping.
Many filed lawsuits against those who became addicted to using e-cigarettes, which led to worsened conditions. Furthermore, they claim that these contained high levels of nicotine; therefore, many people were injured when their e-cigarettes exploded or caught fire.
Recent Developments in Juul Class Action Lawsuit
In May 2024, there were almost 5,102 Juul Lawsuits from around the United States. The cases brought many class action lawsuits and personal injury cases in almost four states.
Juul paid $23.8 million to the City of Chicago in March 2023 to settle claims that the e-carry maker marketed its products and sold the vaping products to underage users.
In January, A California judge approved a $255 million settlement, which resolves the claims regarding deceptively marketing products. Before that, in December 2022, Juul agreed to settle about 5,000 cases for an undetermined amount, about $1.2 billion.
Moreover, many states sued Juul Labs Inc. because it contributed to the youth vaping epidemic. Juul paid $40 million to North Carolina in a June 2021 state lawsuit settlement. The company also paid over $440 million to 33 states in which the vape maker marketed its products for teenagers.