Dec 10 – Juul Labs Inc has agreed to pay US $1.2 billion to settle about 10,000 lawsuits against the e-cigarette maker that claimed Juul was the primary cause of the e-cigarette epidemic among U.S. teens, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Dec 10 – Juul Labs Inc has agreed to pay US $1.2 billion to settle about 10,000 lawsuits against the e-cigarette maker that claimed Juul was the primary cause of the e-cigarette epidemic among U.S. teens, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The amount of the deal, which involves consolidation of cases centered in Northern California, is more than three times the amount of other Juul settlements reported so far in other state and local cases.
The deal resolves much of the legal uncertainty that pushed Juul to the brink of bankruptcy. Juul said it had received an equity investment to pay for the settlement. As previously reported by The Wall Street Journal, Juul has been in talks with early investors, including two of its longtime board members, Nick Pritzker and Riaz Valani, to secure a bailout to cover legal expenses.
In a statement, Juul said the settlements’ mark an important step towards strengthening our operations and ensuring that we move forward.
The settlement comes a month after the once-hot e-cigarette company secured funding from some of its early investors to help keep Juul in business.
Juul, which is partly owned by Marlboro maker Altria Group Inc (MO.N), had agreed in September to pay $438.5 million to settle claims from 34 U.S. states and territories that it downplayed the risks of its products and targeted underage buyers.
Juul’s e-cigarettes were briefly banned in the United States in late June by the Food and Drug Administration, but the ban was put on hold on appeal. The health regulator also agreed to an additional review of the company’s marketing application.
Post time: Dec-12-2022
