JUUL LABS, INC. AND JAMES MONSEES
v.
LAURA SHIFRIN FELDMAN, AS PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF RITA SHIFRIN
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JUUL Labs and its founder appealed the denial of a protective order to prevent deposing Monsees in tobacco litigation, and the court reversed, finding evidence regarding JUUL's relationship with Philip Morris irrelevant to the punitive damages claim against Philip Morris.
Evidence regarding JUUL's relationship with Philip Morris USA and alleged joint marketing is irrelevant to punitive damages claims against Philip Morris in Engle progeny litigation and therefore a protective order preventing Monsees' deposition should have been granted.
[1] In Engle progeny tobacco litigation, evidence regarding a non-defendant tobacco company's relationship with a defendant tobacco company and alleged joint marketing is irr…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceLaura Feldman, as personal representative of Rita Shifrin's estate, sought to depose James Monsees, founder of JUUL Labs, to obtain information about …
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Bard D. Rockenbach and Jeffrey V. Mansell of Burlington & Rockenbach, P.A., West Palm Beach, and Scott P. Schlesinger, Jonathan R. Gdanski, and Brittany C. Barron of Schlesinger Law Offices, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, for appellee Laura Shifrin Feldman.
Jennifer M. Voss of Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P., Tampa, and Geoffrey J. Michael of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, Washington, D.C., for appellee Philip Morris USA, Inc.
PER CURIAM.
Appellants JUUL Labs, Inc., and its founder James Monsees appeal the trial court’s ruling denying in part JUUL’s motion for a protective order to prevent appellee Laura Feldman from deposing Monsees. Appellee seeks to use Monsees’ deposition in this Engle progeny litigation for information regarding the relationship between JUUL, Philip Morris USA, and its parent company, Altria Group, Inc.; any alleged joint marketing relationship between the companies; and the marketing of JUUL’s products to adolescents. Appellee looks to this evidence to help support her punitive damages claim against Philip Morris. Because we have held that such JUUL evidence is irrelevant to the issues raised against Philip Morris in this case, we reverse the trial court’s order to the extent it denied appellants’ motion for a protective order and quash the orders appointing a commissioner and allowing Florida and California subpoenas to be issued for Monsees’ deposition. See Philip Morris USA, Inc., et al., v. Rintoul, No. 4D20-1963 (Fla. 4th DCA May 11, 2022).
Reversed and remanded.
WARNER, LEVINE and KLINGENSMITH, JJ., concur.
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Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
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