Friday, April 19, 2024 | St. Lawrence County, NY
BY JEFF CHUDZINSKI North Country This Week MASSENA — As part of a nation wide lawsuit the Massena Central School District is set to receive $14,492 from a settlement with Juul Labs Inc. Juul was …
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BY JEFF CHUDZINSKI
North Country This Week
MASSENA — As part of a nation wide lawsuit the Massena Central School District is set to receive $14,492 from a settlement with Juul Labs Inc.
Juul was sued for their marketing practices of vaping products that specifically targeted children.
“The board back in August 2021, at the behest of our school attorney, we joined a class action lawsuit that was coming out of northern California against Juul Labs Inc. and also another entity. The purpose of the lawsuit was they were claiming damages for marketing of vaping to kids. So, they filed a class action lawsuit and we joined in this lawsuit,” Superintendent Pat Brady said.
Another lawsuit is currently ongoing against Altria Group Inc., another entity being sued in the same suit against Juul, that could lead to additional funds for the school.
According to Brady, the district signed onto the lawsuit in Aug. 2021, joining over 1,400 other schools in the United States that spanned over 25 states.
According to Brady, Juul settled for roughly $555 million, with different schools and entities receiving a share based on a set formula.
“Part of it is based on your enrollment when the claim was made. The amount of award for Massena was $14,492 with the potential for some future award with another group, the Altria Group, who was an additional defendant in the lawsuit because they had been allegedly participating with Juul Labs and marketing vaping to students,” Brady said.
According to Brady, vaping has had a significant impact on the health of students and the general climate of the district’s schools.
“All schools are dealing with this. This is a small amount of money, but it’s an indication that these entities did in fact market to students and impacted the generation of kids who are still feeling the effects of it,” he said.
Officials say the first payment of the settlement will entail 54% of the total settlement, which will be paid out later this year. The remaining payments will be paid out in 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 in four installment payments to the district.
