The Tulalip Tribes of Washington are the latest plaintiffs to sue e-cigarette behemoth Juul Labs for targeting adolescents — including tribal youth — with misleading ads that downplayed the product's addictive properties.
The 316-page lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court for Western Washington, alleges that Juul and its subsidiaries violated the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, also known as RICO, as well as Washington's public nuisance laws. The tribes claim Juul engineered a fraudulent advertising campaign that transcended state boundaries and tribal sovereignty to profit from a new generation of people addicted to nicotine.
The Food and Drug Administration ordered Juul on June 23 to pull its products from the market only to be blocked a day later by a federal appeals court. On Wednesday, the FDA suspended its initial ban while it reopens its review of Juul's e-cigarettes. The company can still sell its products during the review process.
