Juul Labs Inc. won preliminary approval of a settlement aimed at resolving thousands of lawsuits targeting the e-cigarette maker as a major cause of a US youth-vaping epidemic.
U.S. District Judge William Orrick said on Friday the deal to settle almost 10,000 lawsuits filed by local governments across the US seemed to be “fair and reasonable.” He still must give final approval to the accord. The specific terms of the deal weren’t released at the hearing, but Bloomberg News reported in December the settlement was valued at at least $1.2 billion.
The deal aims to resolve all personal-injury, class-action and school-district claims against Juul gathered before Orrick in San Francisco for pre-trial information exchanges and test trials. Lawyers in the case said they expect to return to the judge in July seeking final approval.
