© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Juul electronic cigarettes are seen on the counter of a vape store in Santa Monica, California, U.S., June 23, 2022. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
(Reuters) – Juul Labs Inc won preliminary court approval on Friday of a $255 million settlement that resolves consumer claims that it misleadingly marketed e-cigarettes, as the company seeks to settle thousands of lawsuits.
US District Judge William Orrick in San Francisco said the proposed class action settlement to resolve claims by consumers who said they overpaid for Juul vaping products was “fair, reasonable and adequate,” according to a filing. judicial.
The settlement is part of a larger global settlement by Juul to resolve thousands of lawsuits from school districts, local governments and individuals that accuse it of contributing to a youth vaping epidemic.
Last month, the company said it had settled with some 10,000 plaintiffs covering more than 5,000 cases. He hasn’t said how much he will pay, though the Wall Street Journal reported the deal is valued at $1.7 billion.
The class action settlement resolves claims by people who say they would have paid less, or not bought e-cigarettes, if Juul had not minimized the addictiveness of the products and appealed to teens through social media campaigns and other media.
Juul did not respond to a request for comment.
Partly owned by the maker of Marlboro Altria Group (NYSE:) Inc, Juul agreed in September to pay $438.5 million to settle claims from 34 states and US territories that the company targeted underage shoppers and downplayed the risks of its products.
In June, the US Food and Drug Administration briefly banned Juul’s e-cigarettes, though it later suspended the order after an appeal.
