Altria Group has faced four major class action lawsuits tied to its $12.8 billion investment in JUUL Labs, three of which have settled for a combined total of roughly $370 million. A securities fraud case settled for $90 million, a sweeping multidistrict case covering personal injury and government entity claims settled for $235 million, and a related consumer class action settled for $45.5 million. One antitrust class action remains active and is scheduled for trial on September 28, 2026.
Why Altria Is Being Sued
In December 2018, Altria paid $12.8 billion for a 35% economic stake in JUUL Labs, then the dominant U.S. e-cigarette maker.1FTC. Altria Group/Juul Labs Matter2Cleary Gottlieb. Juul Labs in FTC’s Antitrust Suit Challenging Altria’s Investment3Altria Investor Relations. Altria Exchanges Minority Stake in JUUL Labs4Altria Investor Relations. Altria Reports 2024 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results By then, the company had already written the investment down by $8.6 billion and was defending suits on multiple fronts.
The $90 Million Securities Fraud Settlement
Shareholders sued Altria in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, alleging the company misled investors about the risks of the JUUL deal, including JUUL’s marketing to minors and the true reason Altria had pulled its own flavored products. The case was Gabby Klein v. Altria Group, Inc., Civil Action No. 3:20-cv-00075-DJN, before Judge David J. Novak.5CourtListener. Klein v. Altria Group, Inc. Judge Novak largely denied the defendants’ motions to dismiss in March 2021, and the parties settled soon after.6Robbins Geller. Prevails in Motion to Dismiss in Securities Class Action
The class covered investors who purchased Altria stock between October 25, 2018, and April 1, 2020.7Altria Group Inc. Securities Litigation. Settlement Website Preliminary approval came in December 2021.8Mealeys. Judge Grants Preliminary Approval to $90M Settlement The filing deadline was April 5, 2022, and payments to approved claimants began on May 12, 2023. The fund has been fully disbursed.
The $235 Million JUUL Youth Vaping Settlement
A much broader wave of litigation was consolidated in federal multidistrict litigation in the Northern District of California, In re: Juul Labs, Inc., Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2913, with a parallel California state proceeding running alongside it.9Lieff Cabraser. Lieff Cabraser Announces Historic $235M Settlement With Altria
The first bellwether trial against Altria, brought by the San Francisco Unified School District, began jury selection on April 21, 2023.10Lieff Cabraser. Jury Selection Begins in First JUUL Bellwether Trial Against Altria After the plaintiffs rested, Altria settled. The $235 million deal, announced May 10, 2023, resolved:
- Approximately 4,500 personal injury claims
- About 1,500 government entity claims, including roughly 1,400 school district cases
- 50 economic class actions
- Roughly 750 cases in the consolidated state court proceeding11Altria Investor Relations. Altria Announces Agreement to Resolve Vast Majority of JUUL-Related Litigation
Funds went to compensating personal injury victims, school abatement programs, and local government prevention efforts. Judge William Orrick granted final approval on March 14, 2024.12Lieff Cabraser. Final Approval Granted to $235M Settlement With Altria
Not everything was covered. The settlement expressly excluded 17 antitrust cases, 35 cases brought by Native American tribes, three cases brought by state attorneys general, and three Canadian cases.11Altria Investor Relations. Altria Announces Agreement to Resolve Vast Majority of JUUL-Related Litigation
The $45.5 Million Consumer Class Action Share
Within the same MDL, consumers brought their own class action alleging that Altria and JUUL misled the public about JUUL’s addictiveness and health risks and targeted teenagers with marketing. JUUL Labs settled the consumer claims for $255 million; Altria separately agreed to pay $45,531,250 to resolve its portion.13Courthouse News. Judge Grants Final Approval to $300 Million Class Action Settlement With Vaping Giant JUUL
Judge Orrick certified four settlement classes: a nationwide class, a nationwide youth class, a California class, and a California youth class. The settlement covered U.S. purchases of JUUL products made before December 6, 2022. Claimants without receipts were capped at $300, with higher amounts available for documented purchases, and anyone who had already filed a claim in the JUUL Labs settlement was automatically eligible for a payment from the Altria fund without filing a separate claim.14JUUL Class Action. Motion for Final Approval of Altria Settlement
Final approval came on March 15, 2024. Initial payments went out around October 18, 2024, and supplemental payments from remaining funds began on March 20, 2026, for eligible claimants whose share reached at least $15.15JUUL Class Action. JUUL Class Action FAQ The claims process is closed.
The Antitrust Class Action Going to Trial in 2026
The one class action still open is In re: Juul Labs, Inc. Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 3:20-cv-02345-WHO, in the Northern District of California.16Joseph Saveri Law Firm. E-Cigarette Antitrust Litigation Plaintiffs allege that Altria and JUUL conspired to eliminate competition in the closed-system e-cigarette market: Altria pulled its own products off the shelves and handed JUUL its retail space, and in return took a 35% stake and a share of the resulting monopoly profits. Defendants also include two longtime JUUL board members, Nicholas Pritzker and Riaz Valani.17PR Newswire. JUUL Antitrust Class Action Notice All defendants deny the allegations and say the transaction did not produce anticompetitive effects or higher prices.18Courthouse News. Judge Approves $255M Preliminary Settlement in Vape Products Class Action
The Three Certified Classes
Judge Orrick granted class certification on February 5, 2026, and the case now involves three separate plaintiff groups.
Direct purchasers. Individuals and entities in the United States who bought JUUL products directly from JUUL Labs or its affiliates between October 5, 2018, and February 26, 2026. The Joseph Saveri Law Firm serves as interim lead counsel.16Joseph Saveri Law Firm. E-Cigarette Antitrust Litigation
Indirect consumer purchasers. Individuals in 27 states and the District of Columbia who bought JUUL pods (not devices) at retail for personal use between October 25, 2018, and March 29, 2024. Separate state-specific classes were also certified for California, Florida, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island.19JUUL Antitrust Consumer. JUUL Antitrust Consumer Class Action
Indirect reseller purchasers. Businesses that bought JUUL pods indirectly from JUUL Labs for resale between December 1, 2018, and March 31, 2025. Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP and Cera LLP serve as class counsel.20Morningstar/PR Newswire. JUUL Indirect Reseller Class Action Notice
A person can belong to both the direct purchaser class and one of the indirect consumer classes, but can recover damages only once.19JUUL Antitrust Consumer. JUUL Antitrust Consumer Class Action
Deadlines, Appeal, and Trial Date
The opt-out deadline for the indirect consumer classes is May 20, 2026, and for the direct purchaser class it is June 13, 2026.21JUUL Antitrust. JUUL Antitrust Direct Purchaser Class Action19JUUL Antitrust Consumer. JUUL Antitrust Consumer Class Action Class members who do nothing stay in the case and are bound by the result.
The defendants sought appellate review of the certification order, and on April 27, 2026, the Ninth Circuit granted leave to hear the appeal. A central question is whether California’s Cartwright Act can be applied to out-of-state transactions.22Washington Legal Foundation. In Re Juul Labs, Inc. Antitrust Litigation Altria and JUUL asked the trial court to pause the case while the appeal proceeded; the judge declined a full stay.23MLex. US Judge Allows Altria-JUUL Antitrust Case to Proceed During Appeal Trial remains scheduled for September 28, 2026. No settlement has been reached, and no court has determined liability.
What These Cases Do Not Include
Two related matters are sometimes confused with the class actions and should not be. The Federal Trade Commission brought its own administrative challenge to the Altria-JUUL transaction in 2020. An administrative law judge dismissed the charges in February 2022, and the full Commission then vacated that decision on June 30, 2023, dismissing the complaint “in the public interest” with the effect that the ALJ’s ruling could not be cited as precedent.24Altria Investor Relations. Administrative Law Judge Dismisses FTC Complaint25FTC. Commission Order Vacates ALJ Initial Decision No divestiture was ordered. That outcome does not control the private antitrust class action, which proceeds under a different legal theory brought by private plaintiffs.
Separately, JUUL Labs reached settlements with dozens of state attorneys general over youth-targeted marketing, including a 34-state agreement valued at $438.5 million.26Connecticut Attorney General. AG Tong Leads Multistate Agreement With JUUL Labs Altria was not a party to most of those state deals; its state-level exposure came through a small number of AG cases that named it directly, such as a $2 million settlement with Alaska in January 2024.27Alaska Department of Law. Juul Settlement Announcement Those are government enforcement actions, not consumer class actions, and individuals cannot file claims against them.
Where Things Stand
The three settled Altria class actions total roughly $370 million. The securities fraud fund has been fully paid. The $235 million MDL settlement received final approval in March 2024. The $45.5 million consumer settlement is closed to new claims, with supplemental payments issued in 2026. What remains open is the antitrust litigation, where three certified classes head toward a September 28, 2026 trial with a Ninth Circuit appeal of the certification order pending in the background.