Juul settles NC Vaping case, agrees to pay $ 40 million

Mr Tobias said he was not surprised that Juul did not admit to wrongdoing.

“It almost always happens in these kinds of regulations – it’s a standard clause,” he said.

Juul has not entered any further serious settlement negotiations, however, as none of the 2,600 other lawsuits against the company are scheduled for 2021. The company is awaiting the FDA’s decision before deciding how to move forward . If the FDA allows Juul’s products to remain on the market to help adult smokers quit, executives believe their negotiating position will be strengthened.

But settling with many complainants would be expensive. Juul has seen sales plummet in the past year, analysts say. The company is private and therefore does not disclose its financial data.

Marc Scheineson, a lawyer at Alston & Bird, whose practice includes small tobacco companies, called the $ 40 million North Carolina settlement “a relatively small sum to pay to avoid rising legal fees and the syndrome. stacking of the complainant ”.

He also noted that most of the steps Juul has agreed to take in the degree of consent, such as not advertising near schools and over-the-counter sales, are actions that Juul has already taken in an effort to gain the favor of the public. Mr Scheineson also said that electronic nicotine delivery products, such as Juul, “continue to have significant public health use by adults as an effective and proven tool to quit smoking more harmful cigarettes.” .

Juul also faces other legal threats. The Federal Trade Commission is suing Juul, along with the big tobacco company Altria and related parties, seeking to unwind the 2018 deal that gave Altria 35% of Juul. Altria, the maker of Marlboro cigarettes, paid $ 12.8 billion for the stake, but has since reduced the value of the investment to $ 1.5 billion.

The commission says the two companies have entered into a series of deals, including Altria’s investment, that have eliminated competition in violation of federal antitrust laws. The FTC also claims that Altria and Juul started out as competitors in the e-cigarette market, but as Juul grew in popularity, Altria faced the threat by pulling its own Mark Ten e-cigarette from the market. in exchange for a share of Juul. profits. Altria and Juul have denied the charges.