His termination sent a message to other Juul employees that “whistleblowing would cost them their careers,” according to Mr. Breja in the lawsuit.
Furthermore, Mr. Breja claimed that Juul’s then-CEO Kevin Burns led the company in a “dictatorial manner and fostered a culture of silence” until his resignation on September 25, 2019.
Mr. Burns allegedly didn’t care about the health and safety of Juul’s customers (many are children and young adults). The former Juul CEO allegedly stated during company meetings that “Half [of] our customers are drunk and vaping like mo-fo’s, who the f–k is going to notice the quality of our pods.”
“Mr. Burns felt quite strongly about proceeding in a win-at-all-costs, reckless fashion, telling anyone who disagreed, including JUUL’s EMEA President, that there could “only be one king at JUUL,” and that the “king” was Mr. Burns. In another conversation, Mr. Burns stated to Mr. Breja and other executives, “Tell that motherfucker that I’ll take him out of the room and shoot him with a shotgun if he challenges my decisions,” according to the lawsuit.
