Seneca Valley reaches settlement with tobacco conglomerate
JACKSON TWP — The Seneca Valley School District announced Monday evening, Sept. 11, that it has entered into a settlement agreement with tobacco conglomerate Altria Group. As part of the settlement agreement, the school district will receive $38,000.
Altria has agreed to pay out $235 million to settle more than 6,000 claims nationwide, including roughly 1,400 from school districts. The claims are related to the e-cigarette manufacturer Juul Labs, in which Altria held a minority stake until March.
"Our portion of the money is $38,000, and we will put that toward the vaping detection systems that we have in our district, and toward vaping education for grades 7 to 12,“ said Linda Andreassi, communications director for the district.
Altria Group was one of the parties named in Seneca Valley’s lawsuit against Juul Labs, which was filed in November 2020. In addition to its former stake in Juul Labs, Altria is the parent company of Philip Morris, as well as the U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company, makers of Copenhagen and Skoal chewing tobacco.
In March, Seneca Valley received about $85,000 from Juul Labs as part of a separate settlement. Those funds also went toward vaping detection and anti-vaping education.
