Juul Labs Inc. has agreed to pay $1.2 billion to resolve about 10,000 lawsuits targeting the e-cigarette maker as a major cause of a U.S. youth-vaping epidemic, according to people familiar with the matter.
The accord, which hasn’t yet been finalized, was announced on Tuesday, but an amount wasn’t disclosed. The deal aims to resolve all personal-injury, class-action and school-district claims against Juul gathered before a judge in California for pre-trial information exchanges, the people said.
The proposed settlement comes as the embattled e-cigarette maker likely staved off bankruptcy last month with a cash infusion from long-time investors and by laying off hundreds of workers to cut costs. The company said earlier this week the settlement will be covered by the new financing.
