Four-figure checks tend not to fall out of the sky.
But a group of e-cigarette users are suddenly finding themselves with a little extra cash, thanks to a massive class action settlement involving one of America's tobacco giants.
In online forums and on social media this week, users of Juul Labs nicotine products have been posting screenshots of online deposits for hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars that they now have access to.
The source of the funds is two settlements totaling $300 million agreed to by Juul and Altria over claims the companies misled consumers about the products’ addictiveness and safety. They were also charged with unlawfully marketing to minors. Altria parted ways with Juul last year after acquiring a competing e-cigarette brand.
Altria has denied the allegations, while Juul did not admit wrongdoing. A court has not ruled on whether either company violated any laws.
Juul agreed to a settlement in 2022, but the Altria settlement, which was needed to kickstart payouts, was not approved until earlier this year. And it was only this month that claims for the approximately 842,000 eligible Juul customers began to be verified.
The deadline for submitting claims has already passed.
After deducting for fees, taxes and contingencies, eligible claimants were entitled to a total of approximately $202,000,000. An average claim amount was not immediately available; payouts were based in part on how many receipts a Juul user could produce showing proof of purchase.
A lawyer representing the plaintiffs class did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In statement to NBC News, a spokesperson for Juul said “We are pleased to have resolved the vast majority of the company’s past legal issues and are focused on advancing our mission, including our efforts to combat underage use of our products, which has been cut by 98% since 2019 according to the most recent government data.”
Vaping remains mired in controversy in the U.S., as e-cigarette companies and federal regulators continue to haggle over the products’ health effects and marketing guardrails. In June, the Food and Drug Administration rescinded an earlier ruling that effectively banned Juul products — but stopped short of greenlighting them for outright sale pending additional review of new health studies and case law.
CORRECTION (Oct. 23, 2024, 9:52 a.m. ET): An earlier version of this article misstated Altria’s ownership of Juul. It exited its position in the company last year after purchasing a competing e-cigarette brand; it does not own 35% of Juul.
