School districts in New York, Missouri, Washington and Kansas have filed legal charges against Juul Labs Inc. over growing costs linked to the increasing use of e-cigarette products among students.
New York's Three Village Central School District, the Unified School District No. 233 in Kansas, the La Conner School District in Washington and Missouri's Francis Howell School District are accusing Juul of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act by targeting the youth with their product design and marketing strategies. These have allegedly forced school districts to spend resources on initiatives that aim to combat e-cigarette use, according to the court filings.
Francis Howell School said it used its funds to install sensors in bathrooms, implement bans on flash drives, hire additional staff and remove bathroom doors as part of its anti-vaping initiatives. It also referenced findings that showed Juul paid $134,000 to sponsor a summer camp in exchange for data on the campers, who were students from grades 3 to 12.
Districts in Long Island, N.Y., and Johnson County, Kan., made similar statements, saying they were also forced to install additional surveillance systems. Washington's La Conner School District also sued Altria Group Inc., which has a 35% stake in Juul, and Altria subsidiary Nu Mark LLC.
The school districts are also accusing the e-cigarette company of willful misconduct, gross negligence, failure to warn, design defects and unjust enrichment. They are seeking unspecified monetary damages.
Responding to the complaints, a Juul spokesman told Law.com that its product has always been intended to be an alternative for cigarette smokers and that it has "never marketed to youth and do not want any non-nicotine users to try our products."
Juul is facing several investigations from different government agencies and states.
