Clay County mom files suit against Juul, arguing it markets its vape products to teens
A lawsuit filed in federal court this week on behalf of a Clay County mother claims that a popular electronic cigarette company, Juul, “developed a marketing strategy” that targeted unsuspecting teenagers, including her daughter, who were at risk of becoming addicted to nicotine.
Juul has since released a statement denying the allegation and saying that the lawsuit has been filed “without merit.” The company added, “We have never marketed to youth and do not want any non-nicotine users to try our products. Last year, we launched an aggressive action plan to combat underage use as it is antithetical to our mission.”
The lawsuit, filed Aug. 26 in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, states that Mindy Boyd’s daughter was 14 when she first started vaping with Juul products in 2018. Over time, the teen found that she couldn’t stop using Juul, was spending money on the e-cigarette products every week and was posting photos of her and her friends “JUULing” on social media, the lawsuit states.
It said Boyd’s daughter “started getting sick more,” was “uncharacteristically irritable and anxious” and “suffers frequent headaches.” The teen has tried to stop using Juul but has not been able to quit, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit suggests that Juul “developed a product and marketing strategy that sought to portray its e-cigarettes as trend-setting, stylish and used by the type of people teenagers look up to.” At the same time, it argues that Juul knew of “significant health risks posed by nicotine use” and “developed an e-cigarette that is more potent than any other.”
“Like big tobacco, Juul targeted America’s youth, hoping to gain customers for life,” the lawsuit stated. “And it worked.”
The lawsuit also states the plaintiff was not aware of the risks of using a Juul e-cigarette with a JUULpod because the company allegedly “intentionally downplayed, misrepresented, concealed, and failed to warn of the heightened risks of nicotine exposure and addiction.”
Filed on behalf of Boyd and her daughter and “those similarly situated,” the lawsuit is seeking certification for class action litigation. The number of people who would be joining in on the class action lawsuit is unknown but the lawsuit estimates is “likely in the tens or hundreds of thousands.”
The lawsuit is requesting a jury trial and seeks compensatory damages, attorneys’ fees and costs and asks that a judge order “all appropriate equitable remedies” for the plaintiffs and class members, “including but not limited to declaratory, injunctive and medical monitoring program relief.”
In a statement from the company attributed to “a JUUL Labs spokesperson,” the company said it’s “committed to eliminating combustible cigarettes,” and its product “has always only been intended to be a viable alternative” for adult smokers.
It continued: “This suit largely copies and pastes unfounded allegations previously raised in other lawsuits which we have been actively contesting for over a year. Like the prior cases that this one copies, it is without merit and we will defend our mission throughout this process.
“We strongly advocate for Tobacco 21 legislation, we stopped the sale of non-tobacco and non-menthol based flavored JUULpods to our traditional retail store partners, enhanced our online age-verification process, strengthened our retailer compliance program with over 2,000 secret shopper visits per month, and shut down our Facebook and Instagram accounts while working constantly to remove inappropriate social media content generated by others on those platforms. It was our hope that others in the category would self-impose similar restrictions to address youth usage, and it is now our hope that regulators will impose these same restrictions to protect youth and to preserve the opportunity to eliminate combustible cigarettes, the deadliest legal consumer product known to man.”
This story was originally published August 27, 2019 at 6:07 PM.
