Lawsuits

National

High courts sends tobacco case back to Oregon again
The U.S. Supreme has sent the $79.5 million punitive damage case against Philip Morris back to the Oregon court system for further review, ruling that the jury in the case received faulty instructions. The decision said that the jury should not have considered the tobacco company’s conduct toward other smokers in determining how much it should be punished for the death of Jesse Williams. The Oregon Supreme Court appears to have at least two options: reduce the size of the punitive damage award or order a new trial. Click here for the press release.

Smoking case going back to state court
A federal appeals court has returned a tobacco case involving “light” cigarettes back to the Minnesota court system. The case, brought about by Michael Dahl and David Scott Huber suing R.J. Reynolds for unfair business practices, is one of many across the United States challenging tobacco companies’ marketing of “light” cigarettes. The decision to send the case back to the Minnesota court system is a setback for R.J. Reynolds because Minnesota has tough consumer protection laws. Click here to read more.

Appeals court won’t rehear its tobacco decision
A Louisiana appeals court panel has refused to revisit its decision to slash a New Orleans jury’s 2004 verdict that required four big tobacco companies to pay over $590 million to help Louisiana smokers quit. In February, the appeals court pared the $591 million award to $279 million and the decision was appealed by the tobacco firms. Since the appeal has been rejected, the tobacco firm’s next move will be to ask the Louisiana Supreme Court to void the jury award and dismiss the case altogether. Click here to read more.

Judge nixes a South Carolina city’s indoor-smoking ban
A judge in Greenville South Carolina snuffed out the city’s new indoor smoking ban, ruling that in 1996 South Carolina passed a state law preventing local governments from creating their own smoking laws. It is unclear whether this ruling will affect numerous other indoor smoking bans around the state. This ruling comes three months after Judge Deadra Jefferson dismissed a lawsuit over a similar ban in Sullivan’s Island, the first city in South Carolina to pass such a law against smoking in bars and restaurants. Attorneys in both cases believe that they will end up before the South Carolina Supreme Court, perhaps together. The same day the Greenville ruling occurred, South Carolina passed an amendment will that would allow cities and counties to ban indoor smoking. The bill will now go to the House for approval and if it passes, will make the previous two rulings inconsequential. Click here for the press release.  

State justices take tobacco case
The Mississippi Supreme Court has agreed to hear appeal arguments on the September 2006 ruling that cut off funding to the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi, a tobacco cessation and education program. Governor Haley Barbour, Medicaid, and the Mississippi Health Care Trust Fund are appealing the ruling that the Partnership doesn’t have to give back any of the money it has received during the previous 5 ½ years. Click here to read more.

United States judge rules tobacco ad curbs extend overseas
Federal judge Gladys Kessler, who sanctioned cigarette makers last year for violating U.S. racketeering laws, ruled that some marketing restrictions she imposed, included the use of health messages such as ‘light’ and ‘low tar,’ should apply outside of the United States. She reject the tobacco companies’ request for a clarification. The marketing restrictions, along with the rest of Kessler’s ruling, were stayed in October while the tobacco companies pursue an appeal. Click here to read more.

Tobacco firms want 2002 verdict thrown out
Almost five years after a Miami jury awarded a dying ex-smoker more than $25 million in damages, major tobacco companies want the verdict tossed out. John Lukacs won the award in 2002 after jurors found that the tobacco companies committed fraud by deceiving him about the health hazards of smoking. Tobacco companies now want the verdict thrown out because the Florida Supreme Court dismissed a similar fraud finding in an earlier tobacco case and overturned a 2000 award of $145 billion last summer. Click here for the press release.

Clearing the air: Anti-smoking group wins one
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has ruled in favor of the American Legacy Foundation, finding that its ad for truth campaign did not violate FCC rules. The claim was filed in 2001 by Lorillard. The offending ad was a radio spot in which a young actor identifying himself as a dog walker called the Lorillard switchboard. He offered to sell the company urine from his dogs to help the company manufacture cigarettes, playing up the fact that one of the components of cigarettes is urea, a compound found in urine. Click here to read the press release.

Congress probes Department of Justice meddling in tobacco case
Chair of the House Government Oversight committee Henry Waxman has asked for all records concerning the Bush Administration’s handling of a recent federal case against the tobacco industry. Claims have been made that top political appointees in the Justice Department pressured the lead prosecutor in a recent federal case claiming the tobacco industry had conspired a lie to U.S. smokers, forcing her to ease off cigarette executives and their companies. The prosecutor, Sharon Eubanks, said the interference undermined her ability to “zealously represent the interests of the American public.” Click here to read more.

top

Back to Table of Contents