National JUUL Litigation Team Files Suit on Behalf of the ABC Unified School District Against JUUL Labs, Inc. for Disrupting District-Wide Education

The National JUUL Litigation team has filed suit on behalf of the ABC Unified School District against JUUL Labs Inc. for its role in creating an e-cigarette epidemic and resurgence in youth nicotine addiction that impedes the learning environments in schools across California.

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California School Districts with Suits Filed Against JUUL Labs, Inc. (Graphic: Business Wire)

The ABC Unified School District joins the following California school districts that have also filed lawsuits to take a stand against JUUL’s promotion of dangerous and addictive products, including:

• Acalanes Union High School District
• Anaheim Elementary School District
• Anaheim Union High School District
• Burbank Unified School District
• Cajon Valley Union School District
• Campbell Union High School District
• Castro Valley Unified School District
• Ceres Unified School District
• Chico Unified School District
• Compton Unified School District
• Davis Joint Unified School District
• Downey Unified School District
• El Dorado Union High School District
• Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District
• Glendale Unified School District
• King City Union School District
• Los Angeles County Office of Education
• Los Angeles Unified School District (second largest school district in the nation)
• Lynwood Unified School District
• Menifee Union School District
• Monterey Peninsula Unified School District
• North Monterey County Unified School District
• North Valley Military Institute
• Pacific Grove Unified School District
• Pajaro Valley Unified School District
• Pomona Unified School District
• Poway Unified School District
• Rocklin Unified School District
• Roseville Joint Union High School District
• San Diego County Office of Education
• San Diego Unified School District (second largest district in California)
• San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District
• Santa Cruz City Schools
• Scotts Valley Unified School District
• Woodland Joint Unified School District

   

The lawsuits seek injunctive relief and abatement remedy to combat the e-cigarette epidemic, which has severely impacted the school districts by interfering with normal school operations. The districts are also seeking compensatory damages to provide relief from the districts’ financial losses as a result of students being absent from school, the extensive costs to orchestrate outreach and education programs regarding the risk of vaping, and deploying the enforcement restrictions – such as vape detectors, surveillance systems, and staff to monitor the school’s property in an effort to combat the e-cigarette crisis.

“This e-cigarette epidemic created by JUUL has caused youth nicotine addiction to skyrocket and school leaders are seeing the ABCUSD students vaping at high rates,” said Baron & Budd Shareholder, John Fiske. “The climbing number of students juuling on campuses has disrupted the learning environment and diverted the attention of school staff away from their core assignment of educating students.”

"School districts should not have to bear the financial burden to combat a vaping epidemic that puts the health and safety of all students and staff on campus at risk," said Panish Shea & Boyle LLP Partner, Rahul Ravipudi. "JUUL is responsible for not only creating this epidemic but continuing to fuel it with deceptive marketing and fruity flavors targeting our youth. We're proud to stand beside these Districts seeking justice and we're ready to hold JUUL accountable for its actions."

Since entering the market in 2015, JUUL has dominated the e-cigarette industry and has controlled over 70% of the market. Over a million JUUL e-cigarettes were sold between 2015 and 2017. In fact, the e-cigarette category grew 97 percent to $1.96 billion between June 2017 and June 2018 alone. That growth is largely based on JUUL’s market strategy, which is to target school-age children, the lawsuit alleges.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse found that the 2018 spike in nicotine vaping was the largest for any substance recorded in 44 years and the number of youth e-cigarette users increased by 1.5 million between 2017 and 2018. The lawsuit alleges JUUL’s aggressive, strategic marketing and product designs not only create an addiction crisis among youth consumers, but also a broader health crisis.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL JUUL LITIGATION TEAM

The National JUUL Litigation consortium is comprised of the firms of Baron & Budd, P.C.; Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis and Miles, PC; Goza & Honnold, LLC; Panish Shea & Boyle LLP; Wagstaff & Cartmell, LLP; and Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger. These are some of the largest and most accomplished plaintiffs’ law firms in the country. With decades of experience, the National JUUL Litigation team has the expertise and resources to handle complex litigation throughout the country. The firms’ attorneys have obtained significant awards for their clients and have been recognized for their continued excellence. The legal team was formed to work jointly on behalf of public entities in the investigation and prosecution of claims for damages arising out of the public nuisance, negligence and other claims against e-cigarette companies, such as JUUL Labs, Inc. The National JUUL Litigation attorneys are leaders in representing public entities in this type of litigation. Members of our consortium currently serve in leadership roles, including Public Entity Plaintiffs’ Co-Lead Counsel representing school districts throughout California. All the firms on the legal team have built their reputations on their ability to litigate complex disputes. The National JUUL Litigation team is committed to representing public entities, large or small, and ensuring they are justly compensated for the cost imposed on them by irresponsible companies. For more information, visit www.schoolvapingcrisis.com.

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