Juul Customers Are Getting Quite the Surprise via Venmo

Two big class-action lawsuits over Juul vaping products have been settled, and consumers are starting to see their payday. The Washington Post reports that Juul and tobacco company Altria Group, which used to hold a minority stake in Juul, earlier this month agreed to pony up $255 million and $45.5 million, respectively, which will come out to about $202 million (after taxes and other fees are taken out) to satisfy 842,000 claims. Plaintiffs in the complaints—which alleged that Juul had misled consumers about its products' addictiveness and other risks—purchased Juul paraphernalia at stores or online before Dec. 6, 2022.

The minimum amount that participants in the suit can expect to see is $15; Dena Sharpe, an attorney for the plaintiffs, says the average payout is about $240, per the BBC. But many were surprised to receive much more, with funds already being distributed via Venmo. "POV: you just got $3k Venmo from a class action lawsuit against JUUL you forgot you filled out as a JOKE 2 years ago in college" one pleased recipient captioned a TikTok video announcing her good fortune (more on the TikTok trend related to this here). Forbes notes that some people on a Reddit thread have claimed they've received amounts as high as $9,000.

Juul previously paid out nearly $440 million as a result of a multistate probe into its marketing practices. "We are delighted to see the legal system delivering results by getting real money into the hands of class members who purchased Juul products," Sharp says in a statement, per the Post, noting that other cases around the US are still pending. Juul Labs, which says that a settlement trust is handling the payouts, says in its own statement that it's "pleased to have resolved the vast majority of the company's past legal issues" and is "focused on advancing our mission, including our efforts to combat underage use of our products." If you're a current or former Juul customer who's thinking of jumping onto the complaint bandwagon, a bit of disappointing news: The deadline for submissions for these two particular suits has passed. (More Juul stories.)