Whitefish Bay law firm files first Wisconsin vaping lawsuit

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A Whitefish Bay law firm is joining the national fight against vaping. Crueger Dickinson filed Wisconsin’s first lawsuits against vaping companies Friday.

The firm joins Wexler Wallace LLP in Chicago and Greg Coleman Law in Knoxville, Tennessee, in representing more than a dozen people from Wisconsin, Illinois, Florida, New Jersey and Washington. Attorneys at Crueger Dickinson are alleging JUUL and its partial owner Altria, formerly Phillip Morris, engaged in an illegal and deceptive marketing campaign aimed at teens.

In a news release, the firm said clients started using JUUL vaping products as teenagers, became addicted and are now experiencing serious health risks. The lawsuit alleges JUUL and Altria took advantage of the vaping industry’s lack of regulation and targeted addictive products to millions of young people.

Plaintiffs in the case include some of the teenagers and their parents. They told the law firm that they felt it was important to take a stand against JUUL’s marketing and the potential health risks they say the company doesn’t disclose.

Crueger Dickinson’s suits are the first in Wisconsin, but they join a number of others from around the country. Representatives from JUUL asked the cases to be consolidated in one location, and lawyers from Crueger Dickinson are asking the court to send the cases to a venue in Wisconsin or Illinois. The Judicial Panal for Multidistrict Litigation will hear arguments on the location request Thursday in federal court in Los Angeles.