School Districts Strike Back Against JUUL for Hooking Teens on Vaping
By far the country’s leading manufacturer of e-cigarettes, JUUL is now facing several lawsuits filed by school districts across the country.
Schools have had it with vaping. They’ve had enough of students struggling with nicotine addiction or becoming ill after using e-cigarettes. Their already-strained budgets can’t take the added costs that come with keeping teens from vaping in bathrooms or elsewhere on campus, and teachers are fed up with having to monitor and enforce e-cigarette prohibitions.
And school districts know who to blame for these unwanted and expensive burdens: JUUL Labs, Inc. By far the country’s leading manufacturer of e-cigarettes, JUUL is now facing several lawsuits filed by school districts across the country.
Schools Are “Uniquely and Disproportionally Impacted” by Vaping Epidemic
Filed in October by districts in Kansas, Missouri, New York, Washington, and Arizona, the suits focus on allegations that JUUL marketed and designed its nicotine delivery products in a manner intended to attract minors, that its marketing misrepresented or failed to advise that JUUL products are more potent and addictive than cigarettes, and that the company’s marketing of its products promotes nicotine addiction.
The school districts assert that they should not have to bear the costs for being on the front lines of this public health epidemic created by JUUL and other e-cigarette companies. As reported in USA Today, the suit filed by the Three Village Central School District in New York alleges that:
“School districts have been uniquely and disproportionately impacted by JUUL’s conduct. Educators are being forced to expend significant resources to combat JUUL use by students. JUUL use by students during school presents both a danger to students and increases the resources necessary to educate the students who use JUUL. It also detracts from educators’ limited time and resources to educate their student population generally.”
Similarly, the Francis Howell School District in St. Charles County, Missouri, claims in its suit that JUUL has caused “significant and ongoing nicotine abuse and addiction by students at [Francis Howell] schools.” Additionally, use of these products at school “frustrates [the district’s] ability to achieve its educational goals.”
These lawsuits are just the latest in a flurry of efforts by legislators, regulators, public health officials, and those harmed by e-cigarettes to hold JUUL accountable for the explosive growth of teen vaping. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the number of middle and high school students who use JUUL products or other e-cigarettes skyrocketed from 2.1 million to 3.6 million between 2017 and 2018 – an increase of more than 50 percent.
Harmed or Addicted From JUUL or E-Cigarette Use? Call Sommers Schwartz for a Free Consultation to Discuss Your Claims.
If you or your child is suffering from health problems or nicotine addiction after vaping or using JUUL and other e-cigarettes, you may have a claim for compensation. Sommers Schwartz, a nationally recognized personal injury and class action law firm, is currently investigating and pursuing JUUL and e-cigarette injury, illness, and wrongful death claims on behalf of individuals and families who fell victim to these dangerous and deceptively marketed products.
Please contact us to arrange for your free initial consultation.