JUUL Labs Inc. faces several lawsuits and new claims under the RICO argument from more than 4,500 individuals, school districts and municipalities for fueling nicotine addiction among teens and young adults.
The company introduced the JUUL pods in 2015, which in no time became much popular among teens and adults in the United States. There are currently more than 2,000 cases filed in the federal court system as a part of multidistrict litigation consolidated before Judge Orrick as mentioned in a Joint Case management Conference Statement issued on April 14. It includes claims presented by 146 school districts, 20 counties, 2 cities, and 20 tribes and JUUL nicotine addiction injury cases from 1,730 individual users.
Judge Ann I. Jones in the Los Angeles Superior Court is also overseeing 422 complaints that are pending in California state court as part of a JCCP. These complaints include more than 2,500 individual plaintiffs claiming nicotine addiction after using JUUL products.
The company even faces many personal injury lawsuits from parents of young adults who began vaping as teens and also from the parents of minor JUUL users. Government entities and school districts are blaming the JUUL products for destroying the communities, classrooms, and budgets by fostering the addictive products among the youngsters.
It is easier for the teens to hide the JUUL vape pens from the parents and school officials as it looks like a USB drive. These vapes are even sold in candy-like flavors that lure non-smokers and teens. The manufacturers thoroughly used social media and other marketing strategies to target teens without disclosing the high levels of nicotine present in the products that can lead to serious addiction problems.
JUUL Labs along with Altria Group Inc. is even accused of deliberately targeting teenagers by using fraudulent marketing strategies and the company miserably failed to knock out such racketeering claims in lawsuits. The complainants in these claims included consumers, local governments, and school districts. Although the judge dismissed the claims, the plaintiffs were allowed to revise their complaints considering a new RICO argument. The 1970 RICO law deals with the prosecution of organized crime and is also used in civil lawsuits.
