Minnesota AG Keith Ellison announces settlement in $100M lawsuit against Juul, Altria
MINNEAPOLIS -- As trial proceedings were just about to wrap up, Attorney General Keith Ellison announced that the state had settled with e-cigarette manufacturers Juul and Altria.
The lawsuit had been filed in 2019, accusing the companies of using aggressive marketing hooked thousands of kids on e-cigarettes.
Since then, a number of states had settled their cases against Juul. Earlier, Ellison said settling was not an option, saying "they deceptively marketed to kids in order to get them on e-cigarettes, using really tricky deceptive practices." Minnesota's case, a $100 million lawsuit, was the first one to go to trial.
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The terms of the settlement will remain confidential until papers are formally filed with the court, which is expected within the next month.
On Monday, Ellison released the following statement:
"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.
"Right now, the terms of the final settlement are not public, but we will announce them soon. When we do, it will be alongside those harmed, the community, elected officials, and others responsible for protecting our children.
"We followed in the footsteps of former Attorney General Skip Humphrey, who led the historic 1998 tobacco trial in Minnesota. Once again, Minnesota has demonstrated leadership in taking these cases head on, including going to trial to hold tobacco companies accountable, protect our community's health, and protect our kids. One of my goals in bringing this case was to send a message: we will not tolerate youth marketing of nicotine products in Minnesota. My office will continue to do its part to protect kids from getting hooked on these harmful products."
Juul released a statement as well, which read, in part:
"Resolution of issues from the company's past and its historical legal challenges has remained a critical priority to secure certainty for our future. 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. 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, which launched in 2015, became the U.S. vaping market leader on the popularity of flavors like mango, mint and creme brulee. Its rise was fueled by its use among teenagers, some of whom became hooked on Juul's high-nicotine pods. Amid the backlash, Juul dropped all U.S. advertising and discontinued most of its flavors in 2019. Juul has since lost popularity with teens, and its share of the multibillion-dollar market has fallen to about 33% from a high of 75%.
In June, the Food and Drug Administration rejected Juul's application to keep its products on the market as a smoking alternative for adults, though that decision is on appeal. In September, Juul agreed to pay nearly $440 million to settle a two-year investigation by 33 states into its marketing of high-nicotine products.