Minnesota settled its case against Juul and Altria for deceptively marketing e-cigarettes, which became popular among the state’s youth, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said Monday. While Juul has now settled with 48 states and territories, Minnesota was the first to go to trial, Ellison said.
The trial went from March 28-April 11. Terms of the settlement will be kept confidential until formal papers are publicly filed with the court, he said, which will likely be in the next 30 days.
The state’s 2019 lawsuit alleged Juul developed sleek devices and flavors that appealed to youth, and the San Francisco-based company’s youth-oriented marketing deceptively attracted and addicted young people. Minnesota amended its complaint in 2020 to include Richmond, Virginia-based Altria, which had a 35% stake in Juul before dropping the company in March, as a defendant. The court’s denial of defendants’ motions for summary judgement in March ensured the case would go to trial, Ellison said.
“In Minnesota, the health and safety of our children is of paramount importance. And yet, Juul products exposed a whole new generation of kids to the addictive and dangerous drug nicotine. After three weeks of trial highlighting and bringing into the public record the actions that Juul and Altria took that contributed to the youth vaping epidemic, we reached a settlement in the best interest of Minnesotans,” he said.
Resolution of issues from Juul’s past and its historical legal challenges has remained a critical priority to secure certainty for Juul’s future, the company said Monday in a statement.
“While we appreciate the court and jury’s time, attention and professionalism throughout the trial, we are pleased to have reached a settlement with the state and will work to finalize this agreement over the coming weeks,” Juul said. “We have now settled with 48 states and territories, providing over $1 billion to participating states to further combat underage use and develop cessation programs. This is in addition to our global resolution of the U.S. private litigation that covers more than 5,000 cases brought by approximately 10,000 plaintiffs.”
Juul’s priority remains to secure authorization of its premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs), which the Food and Drug Administration has denied then stayed. Products can remain on the market pending further FDA review.
Altria told CSP Daily News it was pleased with the resolution reached.
“We believe resolving this case is in the best interest of Altria and our shareholders and have agreed to settle it to avoid the costs and uncertainty of further litigation,” Altria said. “We no longer maintain an economic interest in Juul and believe that the claims asserted against us in this and other Juul-related litigation are without merit.”
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