Colorado: State Cannot Sue Juul Labs Executives

The Colorado Supreme Court ruled last week that the Colorado Attorney General Office’s lawsuit against electronic cigarette manufacturer Juul Labs cannot include four of the company’s executives.

The AG’s Office hoped to hold both the company and the four executives liable for alleged deceptive marketing practices which targeted adolescents and teens.

Colorado filed its lawsuit against the company in 2020 after a yearlong investigation into the company’s advertising downplaying its products’ nicotine concentration and claims that the product was a healthy alternative to traditional cigarette smoking, according to CBS News.

In the ruling, Justice Richard L. Gabriel wrote that the AG’s Office’s prosecutors provided “no facts supporting a conclusion that any of the defendants expressly aimed their conduct at Colorado.”

Six of the seven state justices were in agreement with the ruling. The seventh did not participate in the decision.

“Had the record shown that these defendants individually targeted Colorado, among other states, then our conclusion might have been different,” Gabriel wrote.

The ruling reversed a district court decision which rejected a request for dismissal by the executives’ attorneys.