JUUL LABS INC v. FELDMAN USA (2022)

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

JUUL LABS, INC. and James Monsees, Appellants, v. Laura Shifrin FELDMAN, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Rita Shifrin, Philip Morris USA, Inc., and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, Appellees.

No. 4D20-993

Decided: May 11, 2022

George S. LeMieux and Timothy J. McGinn of Gunster, Fort Lauderdale, for appellants. 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.

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.

Per Curiam.

Warner, Levine and Klingensmith, JJ., concur.

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