California schools sue Juul Labs for vaping-related absences. They’re not the first

San Diego public schools have sued Juul Labs, claiming that their products led to student absences because of vaping-related lung illnesses and diverted school resources to preventing vaping on school grounds.

The suit was filed on Jan. 7 in San Diego Superior Court and says that Juul’s product “disrupts the learning environment” of the San Diego Unified School District.

The lawsuit says San Diego teachers had to deal with “the prevention and detection of student vaping and modify school property and school operations in response to the problem.”

It also argues that Juul has led to an increase in student absences because of vaping-related reasons. And that since “the vast majority of revenue the District receives is tied to daily student attendance,” Juul has hurt all students in the district.

“Our district is in the business of educating students in a healthy and safe environment,” San Diego Unified Superintendent Cindy Marten told ABC Channel 10 News. “This lawsuit supports district goals by holding Juul accountable for its harmful marketing practices and unsafe products.”

San Diego joins other school districts in Kansas, Missouri and New York in filing lawsuits against the e-cigarette giant, according to USA Today.

Five million youth reported having used e-cigarettes within the past month and almost one million said they used them daily, according to a 2019 report by the Food and Drug Administration.

Juul has said that it is trying to curb underage use of its products.

“Our customer base is the world’s 1 billion adult smokers, and we do not intend to attract underage users,” Juul spokesman Ted Kwong told The San Diego Union-Tribune. “To the extent these cases allege otherwise, they are without merit.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in December that as a result of vaping-related lung illnesses, there were more than 2,500 hospitalizations and 55 deaths in 27 states and Washington, D.C., from June 9-Dec. 27, 2019.

This story was originally published January 9, 2020 at 10:14 AM with the headline "California schools sue Juul Labs for vaping-related absences. They’re not the first."