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 The lawsuit draws on internal correspondence and other evidence,
asserting the company did little to prevent sales to underage
customers. It also claims that Juul used a "flawed" age-verification
process for online sales.
Filed in California state court in Alameda County, the lawsuit also
cites passages from a recent Reuters investigation that documented
how Juul disregarded evidence soon after its launch in 2015 that
teenagers were attracted to the product. (https://www.reuters.com/
investigates/special-report/juul-ecigarette/)
The Reuters story documented how Juul rarely mentioned nicotine in
early consumer marketing, while at the same time pitching retailers
on Juul's unique addictive power.
Juul spokesman Austin Finan said the company had not yet reviewed
the complaint. "We remain focused on resetting the vapor category in
the U.S. and earning the trust of society by working cooperatively
with attorneys general, regulators, public health officials, and
other stakeholders to combat underage use and convert adult smokers
from combustible cigarettes," he said in a statement.
The lawsuit seeks monetary damages based on violations of state laws
governing false advertising and unfair competition, among others.
Other lawsuits brought so far on behalf of teenage Juul users and
other plaintiffs focus on the company's early youth-oriented
advertising and social media campaigns. The state of North Carolina
filed a lawsuit against Juul earlier this year.
Juul, the U.S. market leader in e-cigarettes, has come under intense
scrutiny from regulators, lawmakers and attorneys general over the
surging popularity of its products among teenagers in recent years.
More than 27% of U.S. high schoolers used an e-cigarette in the
previous month, according to a federal youth tobacco survey released
in September, up from 11.7% two years ago.
A recent study found that nearly 60% of high schoolers and 54% of
middle schoolers who use nicotine vaping products said Juul was
their usual brand.
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The company stopped selling many of its most popular flavors in the
United States in recent months, including mint and mango, as
research showed those flavors were highly popular among teenagers.
The lawsuit brought by California alleges that customers who failed
Juul's online age verification process could create multiple
accounts to circumvent the system or ask Juul customer service
employees to adjust the address or name to try again.
Sales records in California, according to the suit, show the company
sent thousands of Juul devices and pods to fictitious names
including "Beer Can" and "Patricia Juul," and to addresses such as
"no signature needed, Palo Alto."
The lawsuit quotes correspondence earlier this year from a Juul
senior developer, Frederic Boivin, agreeing with another employee
that the company shouldn't be allowed to edit customer information
because it risked "huge compliance violations."
Referring to a specific case, he added: "For all we know this is an
underage person," according to the suit.
Boivin went on to tell Eadon Jacobs, a director of digital product
at Juul, that "you can edit everything," according to the suit.
Jacobs responded with one word: "Shit," according to the complaint.
Boivin and Jacobs did not respond to requests for comment.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said on Monday that Juul
"targeted underage Californians with its marketing and sales
practices," and is engaging in business practices that are
"endangering lives, especially of our children."
(Reporting by Chris Kirkham in Los Angeles; editing by Richard
Pullin)
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