California Federal Judge Approves Juul's Multi-Million Dollar Settlement

A federal judge in California has tentatively approved a multimillion-dollar settlement for e-cigarette manufacturer Juul, which could pay out millions to plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit.

On January 20th, U.S. District Judge William Orrick approved a settlement agreement for a class action lawsuit against Juul in the federal court of San Francisco. The agreement provides a payment of $255 million (approximately RMB 1.72 billion) to class members in exchange for releasing economic loss claims. According to court documents, the settlement covers between 200,000 and 2 million class members, approximately 15% of the claimants.

This announcement was made ahead of the scheduled trial in April 2023 with its largest investors Juul and Altria. The settlement was reached after years of negotiations and will dismiss Juul from the trial, allowing Altria to proceed under the terms of the settlement alone. Class members who reject the settlement will continue to participate in the trial.

The settlement and litigation notices regarding Altria will be provided directly to known purchasers and disseminated through widespread distribution," according to court documents. All notices will be linked to or directed towards the settlement website.

A group lawsuit against Juul alleges that the e-cigarette giant used deceptive marketing to fuel the youth vaping epidemic and falsely claimed that its e-cigarette pods contained 5% nicotine, which is approximately equivalent to a pack of cigarettes. The pods actually contained significantly higher levels of nicotine than advertised.

The plaintiff also claims that Juul incorrectly marketed its product as safer than traditional cigarettes. At present, there is no evidence to support this claim.