Juul Sued for Use of Contractors in Test for Political Campaigns

  • Pro-Juul campaign workers claim to be owed overtime, expenses
  • Advocacy group claims workers misclassified as contractors
Juul products are displayed at a smoke shop in San Francisco, California.Photographer: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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A group of former campaign workers sued Juul Labs Inc. for unpaid wages, claiming it broke labor laws in connection with work they did to help the embattled e-cigarette company roll back a San Francisco ordinance.

Legal Aid at Work, a nonprofit law firm based in San Francisco, claims about 450 people at a Juul-backed coalition were misclassified as independent contractors in violation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and state wage-and-hour laws. It also argues that Juul was ultimately an employer and responsible for a host of labor law violations, including not paying overtime, giving adequate meal breaks and reimbursing work-related expenses.