SAN FRANCISCO – Nineteen county boards of education in West Virginia as well as some individuals will benefit from a national settlement regarding JUUL vaping products.
Charleston attorney Rusty Webb announced the settlement December 7. The county school systems involved are Barbour, Calhoun, Fayette, Gilmer, Greenbrier, Harrison, Lewis, Lincoln, Marion, McDowell, Mercer, Monroe, Nicholas, Pocahontas, Summers, Upshur, Wayne, Webster and Wyoming.
In addition, at least one class action including individuals originally filed in federal court in West Virginia that later was transferred to the Multidistrict Litigation case in California also is part of the settlement.
Webb
“This is a huge victory for West Virginia county school boards of education that have been on the front lines fighting his epidemic with little or no funds to do so,” Webb said. “The national negotiators are recommending it, so I expect that will come relatively soon.”
The cases in the MDL, which was assigned to the Northern District of California, alleged Juul Labs marketed its JUUL nicotine delivery products in a manner designed to attract minors. It also claimed the company’s marketing misrepresents or omits that JUUL products are more potent and addictive than cigarettes, that JUUL products are defective and unreasonably dangerous due to their attractiveness to minors and that the company promotes nicotine addiction.
The case, which was filed in 2019, includes putative class actions, actions on behalf of school districts and other governmental entities as well as individual personal injury cases.
Juul has reached settlements in more than 5,000 of the cases brought by about 10,000 plaintiffs. Financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but Webb said Juul has secured an equity investment to fund it.
Juul took over the vaping market five years ago with the introduction of flavor such as mint and mango. The lawsuits claim the company’s rise was fueled by use among teenagers, some of whom became hooked on Juul’s high-nicotine pods. The federal government took actions that forced the company to drop all advertising in the
The backlash against teen vaping triggered a series of government actions that have forced the company into retreat. Since 2019, Juul has dropped all U.S. advertising and discontinued most of its flavors.
In September, the company agreed to pay about $440 million to settle a two-year investigation by 33 states into the marketing of their vaping products.
In the latest settlement, each of the 1,400 or so government entities involved has the choice to participate. If it does, it releases Juul from all claims in exchange for the settlement money. Factors used to determine the settlement amount include population, litigation risk and the number of entities that participate. Also, the settlement still must meet federal court approval.
U.S District Court for the Northern District of California case number 3:19-md-2913