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Hundreds of Americans share their payments of up to $9,000 following Juul and Altria lawsuit
E-cigarette users are getting paid. Some of the claimants are sharing their payments on social media and some are receiving upwards of $3,000.
The case and settlement go back to 2022 when Juul agreed to settle. But, the Altria lawsuit settlement didn’t get the green light until 2024, which cleared the way for payments to be made to users of Juul Labs nicotine vaping products. Some of those product users and claimants have been posting their settlement checks online, which range from approximately $100 to over $3,000, while some are posting amounts of approximately $9,000.
While neither company has admitted to violating any laws, both eventually agreed to settle with the eligible customers/claimants, who sued the companies claiming they were unlawfully marketing their products to underaged users. Those claimants who described the product’s addictiveness and health related issues are being rewarded now for their persistence.
Payouts are different amounts, how are they calculated?
On social media and Reddit, claimants are posting pics and screenshots of their payments. Most are a few hundred or even a few thousand dollars, but some claim to have received as much as $9,000. Some of the factors that determine the amount of payments are when the products were bought and the age of the users when they purchased the vaping material. The more money spent and the younger the age seem to be from what we can gather factors for getting a bigger paycheck from the settlement.
The deadline for participating in the lawsuit has come and gone
Unfortunately for those who bought the products and were not aware a joint lawsuit was being filed are now out of luck. Feb. 5, 2024 was the deadline for submitting the required paperwork to participate in the class action settlement against the tobacco companies. Juul and Altria denied any wrongdoing and avoided any criminal sentencing by settling with the claimants.
The two settlements totalled $300 million and are the result of over 8,000 lawsuits brought against the companies by individuals, schools, city governments and other agencies. But, the damage isn’t limited to the payouts. The companies are estimated to have paid over $3 billion in legal fees and courtroom battles. As of date, both companies have avoided bankruptcy through trimming costs and receiving investments from private equity companies and entrepreneurs as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
If you have yet to receive your check, you can consult the current status of your situation on this website.