Tag: Juul

  • Federal Judge Gives Final OK in Altria, Juul Class Action

    Federal Judge Gives Final OK in Altria, Juul Class Action

    A federal judge approved the final part of a class action settlement with the e-cigarette company Juul Labs and its parent company Altria, bringing the settlement total to just over $300 million.

    In 2018, the plaintiffs charged Juul Labs with misleading the public about the addictiveness of Juul and the risk of the e-cigarettes and its nicotine cartridges.

    The plaintiffs also said Juul had targeted teenagers with candy-flavored Juul pods and “multimillion-dollar ad campaigns and social media blitzes using alluring imagery.”

    The case survived a number of hurdles: The judge denied multiple motions to dismiss the suit and agreed to certify four different classes of plaintiffs (a nationwide class, a nationwide youth class, a California class and a California youth class).

    In January, the judge gave preliminary approval to a $255 million settlement between Juul Labs and the plaintiffs, according to Courthouse news. Friday’s ruling grants approval to Altria’s payment of $45,531,250. The sides have yet to reach an agreement on attorneys fees.

    “Court finds that this monetary recovery is fair, reasonable, and adequate given the risks of proceeding to trial and the maximum recovery potentially available to Settlement Class Members if the Class Representatives had prevailed at trial,” wrote U.S. District Judge William Orrick in his order.

    Last year, Juul agreed to pay six states $462 million to settle claims that it had marketed its vaping products to teenagers. The year before that, it agreed to pay $438.5 million to 33 different states and Puerto Rico.

    Altria Group exchanged its entire investment in Juul Labs in 2023 for a non-exclusive, irrevocable global license to certain of Juul’s heated tobacco intellectual property.

  • Florida Sues Juul Labs for Marketing to Youth

    Florida Sues Juul Labs for Marketing to Youth

    Florida’s attorney general, Ashley Moody, has filed a lawsuit against Juul Labs, alleging that the company improperly marketed its products to children and offered misleading information about its products’ nicotine content, reports WUSF.

    The suit was filed in Hillsborough County Circuit Court. It seeks civil penalties and an injunction to prevent Juul “targeting children through their marketing and product design and from deceiving consumers with respect to the nicotine concentration.”

    “Juul relentlessly marketed to underage users with launch parties, advertisements using trendy-looking and young models, social media posts and free samples,” the lawsuit states. “It created a technology-focused, sleek design that could be easily concealed and sold its product in flavors known to be attractive to underage users. Juul also manipulated the chemical composition of its product to make the vapor less harsh on the throats of the young and inexperienced consumers it courted. To preserve its young customer base, Juul relied on age verification techniques that it knew were ineffective.”

    Juul responded to the lawsuit, stating that “it is disappointing to see the Florida attorney general direct her state’s resources to suing Juul Labs.”

    Juul’s response sets out “a few facts that should be understood,” including that “Florida’s attorney general initially led the negotiations between the state attorneys general and Juul Labs. For reasons that have not been explained to the public, she ultimately decided not to participate in a settlement to which 48 states and territories are now party to. Had she done so, like all those other jurisdictions, Florida would have its share of millions of dollars to help combat underage use and develop cessation programs. Instead, the Florida attorney general has now embarked on a drawn-out, expensive and uncertain legal process.”

    “Second,” the response continued, “Florida today suffers from the highest sales in the nation of illicit and potentially harmful disposable products emanating from China. These products are not in compliance with the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s] regulatory regime and, in many cases, are flagrantly targeting the state’s children. By contrast, over the past four years, Juul Labs has taken meaningful steps, including ceasing distribution of nontobacco, nonmenthol products in advance of FDA guidance on flavors, halting mass market product advertising, and restructuring our entire company with an emphasis on combating underage use. In part, due to these efforts, we have seen underage use of Juul products cut by 95 percent.”

    The response went on to allege that “Florida has the highest sales of these mostly foreign-made products in the United States, with over 60 percent of vapor sales dominated by disposables whose companies often disregard responsible practices with inappropriate flavor names and questionable marketing. Over the past months, we have been engaged with the attorney general’s office to help create a best-in-class program to combat illicit products. Even though Juul Labs plans to fight this case vigorously, the company remains ready to help Florida stem the tide of the proliferation of Chinese-made disposable products that have found what amounts to be a safe haven for foreign-made illegal vapor products.”

  • Juul Labs to Restructure and Reduce Employees

    Juul Labs to Restructure and Reduce Employees

    Juul Labs has announced a company restructuring aimed at reducing operating costs and positioning the company to continue to advance its mission during a period of regulatory and marketplace uncertainty.

    According to a press release, the principal aim of this restructuring is to enable the company to maximize profitability and cash-flow generation while continuing to invest in its core priorities, which include delivery of high-quality products to its commercial partners, ongoing development of next-generation products, engagement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regarding Juul’s pending and possible future market authorization applications, and commercial growth consistent with compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.

    With these operating cost reductions, Juul Labs says it is positioned to increase its adjusted EBITDA margins and generate meaningful free cash flow before litigation settlements. In doing so, the company will reduce its need to access capital pre-premarket tobacco product application, extend its time horizon to continue its pursuit of market orders from the FDA and generate positive equity value as the company pays down liabilities over time.

    Juul says it remains fundamentally optimistic about the prospects for Juul Labs Inc.—“a view rooted in our belief that our technology and our pipeline of new innovations represent the most valuable ever brought forward to transition adult smokers away from cigarettes while combating underage use,” the company wrote on its website.

  • Vuse and Juul Both See Slight Dip in Market Share

    Vuse and Juul Both See Slight Dip in Market Share

    A slight dip in the market-share lead of R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co.’s Vuse vaping system was announced in the latest Nielsen convenience store report released last week.

    Vuse’s market share declined from 42.2 percent to 41.8 percent, compared with Juul declining from 26.1 percent to 26 percent.

    The latest Nielsen analysis covers the four-week period ending April 22.

    According to Barclays, Nielsen largely covers the big chains. For the smaller chains, the group extrapolates trends, which is why trend changes don’t appear immediately in Nielsen. Local vape shops are not included in the data.

    Consumer demand for tobacco products has ebbed and flowed over the past 12 months, mostly from the impact of inflation and recent upticks in traditional cigarette prices, according to media reports.

    No. 3 NJoy was unchanged at 2.7 percent, while Fontem Ventures’ blu eCigs was unchanged at 1.4 percent.

    Juul’s four-week dollar sales in the latest report have dropped from a 50.2 percent increase in the Aug. 10, 2019, report to a 22.6 percent decline in the latest report.

    By comparison, Reynolds’ Vuse was up 23.1 percent in the latest report, while NJoy was down 8.1 percent, blu eCigs down 35.1 percent and Japan Tobacco’s Logic up 4.9 percent.

    As recently as May 2019, Juul held a 74.6 percent U.S. e-cig market share.

    In March of this year, Altria Group announced it had entered into an agreement to acquire Njoy Holdings for approximately $2.75 billion in cash. Altria said it had multiple sources of funding for the deal, including cash from a $2.7 billion agreement with Philip Morris International last year for IQOS. 

    A day before the Njoy announcement, Altria Group announced it had exchanged its entire investment in Juul Labs for a non-exclusive, irrevocable global license to certain of Juul’s heated tobacco intellectual property.

  • Vuse Market Share Grows to 42%, Juul Drops to 26%

    Vuse Market Share Grows to 42%, Juul Drops to 26%

    R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. has continued to expand Vuse‘s market-share gap with Juul, according to the latest Nielsen convenience store report released Tuesday.

    Vuse’s market share rose from 41.5% in the previous report to 42.2%, compared with Juul declining from 26.1% to 26.1%.

    The latest Nielsen analysis covers the four-week period ending March 25, according to media reports.

    According to Barclays, Nielsen largely covers the big chains. For the smaller chains, the group extrapolates trends, which is why trend changes don’t appear immediately in Nielsen.

    Consumer demand for tobacco products has ebbed and flowed over the past 12 months, mostly from the impact of inflation and recent upticks in traditional cigarette prices.

    No. 3 NJoy was unchanged at 2.7%, while Fontem Ventures’ blu eCigs was unchanged at 1.4%.

    On March 6, Altria Group Inc. delivered another shakeup to the tobacco industry by confirming it would pay $2.75 billion in cash to take full ownership of NJoy.

    Altria cleared the way for the NJoy purchase by exiting its minority stake in No. 2 e-cigarette Juul while acquiring global licensing rights.

    Juul’s four-week dollar sales in the latest report have dropped from a 50.2% increase in the Aug. 10, 2019, report to a 23.9% decline in the latest report.

    By comparison, Reynolds’ Vuse was up 31.1% in the latest report, while NJoy was down 10.9%, blu eCigs down 37.4% and Japan Tobacco’s Logic up 5.2%.

    As recently as May 2019, Juul held a 74.6% U.S. e-cig market share.

  • Minnesota’s Juul Labs Youth Marketing Suit  Begins

    Minnesota’s Juul Labs Youth Marketing Suit Begins

    Credit: Ontronix

    A trial against Juul Labs and Altria for youth marketing begins today in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is the first state to go to trial against the e-cigarette manufacturer and tobacco company.

    Jury selection in the trial comes more than three years after Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison first filed a lawsuit against Juul Labs, reports CARE11.

    “We will prove how Juul and Altria deceived and hooked a generation of Minnesota youth on their products, causing both great harm to the public and great expense to the State to remediate that harm,” said Ellison, in a press release.

    Minnesota is the first case to go to trial against Juul since more than a dozen states sued the company beginning in 2019.

    “It’s a pretty significant case,” said David Schultz, a law professor at the University of Minnesota. “The case comes down to two or three basic issues. First, it’s about the claim that Juul marketed to minors. Second, it did nothing in terms of trying to prevent minors from accessing their product. And third, it was about the fact that they did not make appropriate disclosures regarding the health and safety risks surrounding the use of vaping and some of these smokeless tobaccos.”

    The state believes Juul Labs, enabled by Altria, “engaged in consumer fraud, negligence, and created a public nuisance.”

    This isn’t new territory for the state. Minnesota was the first state in the country to successfully sue the tobacco industry and win in the 1990s.

    Earlier this year, A U.S. district judge handed Juul Labs preliminary court approval of a $255 million settlement resolving claims by consumers that it deceptively marketed e-cigarettes, as the company seeks to resolve thousands of lawsuits.

    The company reached a nearly $24 million settlement with the City of Chicago in mid-March.

    Juul and Altria have denied the allegations.

    In court documents from November 2022, the defendants stated, “Minnesota has reaped billions of dollars from tobacco settlements and taxes over the last decade for the purpose of preventing tobacco use and remedying its harms. Yet even after determining that there was an alleged youth vaping problem among Minnesota youth, time and again the State chose to ignore recommended tobacco prevention funding guidelines and instead used these funds to bankroll unrelated projects—like the Minnesota Vikings football stadium.”

  • Juul MDL Paused for Review of Class Certifications

    Juul MDL Paused for Review of Class Certifications

    Credit: Piter2121

    The California federal judge presiding over multidistrict litigation regarding Juul vaping products has agreed to postpone a trial that would have parent company Altria Group Inc. facing RICO claims, allowing the Ninth Circuit to first review the trial court’s certification of four classes of plaintiffs who brought the suit, according to Law360.

    Last week, A U.S. district judge handed Juul Labs Inc preliminary court approval of a $255 million settlement resolving claims by consumers that it deceptively marketed e-cigarettes, as the company seeks to resolve thousands of lawsuits.

    The class action settlement resolves claims by people who say they would have paid less, or not bought the e-cigarettes at all, if Juul had not downplayed the products’ addictiveness and appeal to teenagers through social media campaigns and other means.

    The settlement is part of a larger, global agreement by Juul to resolve thousands of lawsuits by school districts, local governments and individuals accusing it of contributing to a youth vaping epidemic.

  • Juul Labs has Early Approval for Consumer Settlement

    Juul Labs has Early Approval for Consumer Settlement

    • Judge says the settlement of lawsuits seems ‘fair, reasonable’
    • Specific settlement details were not made public at a court hearing

    A U.S. district judge handed Juul Labs Inc on Friday preliminary court approval of a $255 million settlement resolving claims by consumers that it deceptively marketed e-cigarettes, as the company seeks to resolve thousands of lawsuits.

    Judge William Orrick in San Francisco said the proposed class action settlement resolving claims by consumers who said they overpaid for Juul’s vaping products was “fair, reasonable, and adequate,” according to a court filing, as reported by Reuters.

    Lawyers in the case said they expect to return to the judge in July seeking final approval.

    The class action settlement resolves claims by people who say they would have paid less, or not bought the e-cigarettes at all, if Juul had not downplayed the products’ addictiveness and appeal to teenagers through social media campaigns and other means.

    The settlement is part of a larger, global agreement by Juul to resolve thousands of lawsuits by school districts, local governments and individuals accusing it of contributing to a youth vaping epidemic.

    The company last month said it had reached settlements with about 10,000 plaintiffs covering more than 5,000 cases. It has not said how much it will pay, though the Wall Street Journal reported the deal is valued at $1.7 billion.

    Altria Group Inc, Juul Labs’ largest stakeholder, has asked a federal judge to order the e-cigarette manufacturer to turn over details of the settlement claiming the details remain “shrouded in secrecy” even from other parties in the litigation.

  • Vuse Market-Share Lead Over Juul Continues to Grow

    Vuse Market-Share Lead Over Juul Continues to Grow

    The Vuse brand of e- cigarette is widening its market-share gap with Juul in both monthly and yearly comparisons.

    The latest Nielsen analysis of convenience-store data, released Tuesday, covers the four-week period ending Dec. 3 and found that the R.J. Reynolds Vapor Company’s Vuse brand vaping product’s market share grew from 40.4 percent in the previous report to 40.7 percent.

    Juul Labs’ former market leading Juul device saw its market share shrink from 27.6 percent to 27 percent. Vuse expanded its year-over-year advantage to 34.9 percent to 30.7 percent compared with 34.4 percent to 31.5 percent in the previous report, according to media reports.

    According to Barclays, Nielsen largely covers the big chains. For the smaller chains, the group extrapolates trends, which is why trend changes don’t appear immediately in Nielsen.

    Juul Labs recently agreed to pay $1.7 billion to settle more than 5,000 lawsuits by school districts, local governments and individuals, which claimed that its e-cigarettes were more addictive than advertised, according to people with knowledge of the deal.

  • Vuse Market Share Over 40%, Juul Drops Below 28%

    Vuse Market Share Over 40%, Juul Drops Below 28%

    Credit: RJR Vapor Co.

    The Vuse e-cigarette continues to widen its market share lead over Juul in both monthly and yearly comparisons.

    The latest Nielsen analysis of convenience-store data, released Tuesday, covers the four-week period ending Nov. 5.

    Owned by R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co., Vuse’s market share rose from 40 percent in the previous report to 40.4 percent, compared with Juul declining from 28 percent to 27.6 percent, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.

    Vuse expanded its year-over year advantage to 34.4 percent to 31.5 percent compared with 33.6 percent to 32 percent in the previous report.

    As recently as May 2019, Juul held a 74.6 percent U.S. e-cig market share.

    According to Barclays, Nielsen largely covers the big chains. For the smaller chains, such as vape shops, the group extrapolates trends, which is why trend changes don’t appear immediately in Nielsen.

    No. 3 NJoy was unchanged at 2.8 percent and Fontem Ventures’ blu eCigs was unchanged at 1.4 percent.

    Juul’s four-week dollar sales in the latest report have dropped from a 50.2 percent increase in the Aug. 10, 2019, report to a 20.1 percent decline in the latest report.

    By comparison, Reynolds’ Vuse was up 35 percent in the latest report, while NJoy was up 7.6 percent and blu eCigs down 35.4 percent.

    On Nov. 11, Juul confirmed it is eliminating up to 400 jobs and obtaining financing from its earliest investors.

    Multiple media outlets, first by the Wall Street Journal and cable business channel CNBC, reported the downsizing initiative also includes slashing its operating budget by between 30 percent and 40 percent.