New York on Thursday sued some of the country’s biggest distributors of electronic cigarettes, accusing the companies of violating state laws that prohibit the sale of vaping flavors and designs that appeal to children.
Attorney General Letitia James announced the lawsuit targeting middlemen that distribute fruit- and candy-flavored e-cigarettes like Puff Bar and Elf Bar to hundreds of convenience stories and gas stations across the state. The approach differs from past litigation by New York and other states, which targeted vaping manufacturers, such as Juul Labs.
Widely blamed for sparking the teen vaping trend, Juul has paid more than $1 billion to settle dozens of state and local lawsuits and investigations into its early marketing practices, which included launch parties and product giveaways. The company stopped selling flavors like mango and mint in 2019 and is no longer popular with teens.
Instead, Chinese-made disposable e-cigarettes like Elf Bar have become the top choice among high school and middle school students. None of the products are approved by federal health regulators but they continue shipping into the U.S., often mislabeled as batteries, cell phones or other products.
The state’s nearly 200-page legal complaint points to “widespread evidence of illegal conduct, including documents showing illegal shipments of flavored vapes to New York.” The filing also includes photos of brightly colored e-cigarettes that resemble soft drinks and candy and come in flavors like “fruity bears freeze,” “cotton candy,” and “strawberry cereal donut milk.”
New York banned all vaping flavors other than tobacco in 2020.
“For too long, these companies have disregarded our laws in order to profit off of our young people, but we will not risk the health and safety of our kids,” James said in a statement.
The lawsuit seeks hundreds of millions of dollars in damages from the companies, as well as a permanent ban on their sales of flavored vapes in New York.
Companies named in the lawsuit include Demand Vape of New York, Evo Brands of California, Safa Goods of Florida and Midwest Goods of Illinois.
Calls and messages to the companies were not immediately returned Thursday morning.
According to the lawsuit “Demand Vape maintains close ties with international manufacturers, such that its co-founder routinely travels to China where Demand Vape’s products originate to direct flavor development and marketing.”
In 2022 litigation, the co-founder of Buffalo-based Demand Vape told a federal judge that his company had sold more than $132 million worth of Elf Bar e-cigarettes in the past year. The company that makes Elf Bar is based in Shenzhen, China, and sells flavors including “strawberry mango” and “lemon mint.”
Despite the continued availability of disposable e-cigarettes, the vaping rate among U.S. teens has fallen to a 10-year low of under 6%, according to federal figures released last year. Government health officials attribute the drop to more aggressive U.S. enforcement, including hundreds of warning letters sent to retail stores selling unauthorized vaping products.
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FILE - Disposable flavored electronic cigarette devices are displayed for sale at a store in Pinecrest, Fla., Monday, June 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
Denver Broncos assistant coach Jim Leonhard and longtime NFL assistant Wink Martindale were among eight candidates interviewed by the New York Jets for their vacant defensive coordinator position.
The Jets announced Friday they also completed interviews — all through video meetings — this week with Chris Harris, who served as New York's interim defensive coordinator after Steve Wilks was fired last month, Mathieu Araujo, Ephraim Banda, DeMarcus Covington, Daronte Jones and Jim O’Neil.
Jets coach Aaron Glenn will next shorten the list and meet with remaining candidates for in-person interviews.
New York's defense was one of the NFL's worst during a 3-14 season, Glenn's first as head coach. Wilks was fired after 14 games and Harris, the Jets' defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator, took over the play calling.
“Compatibility is just as important as coachability,” Glenn said last week when asked about what he's looking for in a defensive coordinator. “So, I want to make sure we see things the same way and I want to make sure that we can vibe as far as sitting down and talking about how we see football.”
Leonhard, a former safety who played for the Jets from 2009-11, has some familiarity with Glenn. In Leonhard's final season as a player in 2014 for Cleveland, Glenn served as the Browns' assistant defensive backs coach.
Leonhard began his coaching career as an assistant at Wisconsin, his alma mater, in 2016 before becoming the Badgers' defensive coordinator and later the interim head coach in 2022. After one year at Illinois, Leonhard joined Sean Payton's staff in Denver as the defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator in 2024 before adding assistant head coach to his duties this season.
Martindale was the defensive coordinator at Michigan the last two seasons after a two-year stint in the same role with the Giants. After several college stops to begin his coaching career, Martindale had NFL stints with the Raiders, Broncos and Ravens.
Araujo spent the last four seasons with the Dolphins, first as an assistant defensive backs coach for Mike McDaniel and then as the cornerbacks coach.
Banda coached the Browns’ safeties the last three seasons under Kevin Stefanski after several college stops, including Texas, Mississippi State, Miami and Utah State.
Covington joined the Packers this season as their defensive line coach and run game coordinator after spending eight seasons with the Patriots, including last season as the defensive coordinator.
Jones has spent the last five seasons with the Vikings as the defensive backs coach and also served as the pass game coordinator the last three. He has also had NFL coaching stints with the Dolphins and Bengals.
O’Neil has been with the Lions the past two years, including the 2024 season when Glenn was the defensive coordinator in Detroit. He's a defensive assistant who also coaches the Lions' safeties. He was a defensive quality control coach for the Jets in 2009 and their assistant defensive backs coach from 2010-12. O'Neil also has spent time with the Bills, Browns, 49ers and Raiders.
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FILE - New York Giants defensive coordinator Don "Wink" Martindale during an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles, in Philadelphia, Dec. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Rich Schultz, File)
FILE - Wisconsin interim head coach Jim Leonhard leads warmups before playing against Nebraska in an NCAA college football game in Lincoln, Neb., Nov. 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz)
