TOBACCO CONTROL LAWS

Castano v. The American Tobacco Company

A group of nicotine-dependent cigarette smokers sued several tobacco companies and an industry trade group seeking various remedies under several legal theories spanning several states. The group alleged that the companies' fraudulently manipulated the nicotine content in their products to encourage addiction and failed to disclose the addictive nature of nicotine to consumers. Upon defendants' motion requesting class decertification, the Court of Appeals held that the trial court had abused its discretion when it certified the conditional class. The Court found, among other things, that the trial court failed to properly examine whether differences among state laws and whether the method of trying claims alleging fraud and addiction-as-injury precluded the possibility of common issues predominating the class. After determining that the class action mechanism employed here was not demonstrably superior to individual lawsuits, the Court ordered the trial court to dismiss the class complaint.

Castano, et al. v. The American Tobacco Company, et al., 84 F.3d 734, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (1996).

  • United States
  • May 23, 1996
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
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Parties

Plaintiff

  • Deania Jackson
  • Dianne Castano
  • Ernest R. Perry
  • Gloria Scott

Defendant

  • Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation
  • Liggett & Meyers, Inc.
  • Lorillard Tobacco Company, Inc.
  • Phillip Morris, Inc.
  • R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
  • THE AMERICAN TOBACCO COMPANY
  • United States Tobacco Company

Legislation Cited

Related Documents

None

Type of Litigation

Personal Injury
An individual or organization may seek civil damages against a tobacco company based on the claim that the use of tobacco products causes disease or death. Some of these cases will relate to general tobacco products, while others will relate to specific subcategories of tobacco products--for example, light or low products, menthol or other flavored products. Additionally, there may be cases relating to exposure to secondhand smoke.

Tobacco Control Topics

Contents and Disclosures Measures
Measures for testing, measuring, regulating, or disclosing the contents and emissions of tobacco products. (See FCTC Arts. 9 and 10)
Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship
Measures restricting any form of direct or indirect tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. (See FCTC Art. 13)
Liability
Measures dealing with criminal and civil liability, including compensation. (See FCTC Art. 19)

Substantive Issues

Right to Procedural Due Process
A violation of the right to procedural fairness. For example, a party may claim that a government agency did not consult with public or stakeholders when issuing regulations.
Consumer Protection Violation

Any violation of a law designed to ensure fair trade, competition, or the free flow of truthful information in the marketplace. For example, a government may require businesses to disclose detailed information about products—particularly in areas where safety or public health is an issue.

Industry-Perpetrated Fraud
The tobacco industry may have perpetrated a fraud upon the public or the courts by presenting false information or deliberately hiding known-facts.
Procedural Defect
The court might consider procedural matters without touching the merits of the case. These might include: improper joinder, when third parties, such as Health NGOs or government officials, seek to become parties to the suit; lack of standing, where a plaintiff fails to meet the minimum requirements to bring suit; lack of personal jurisdiction, where the court does not have jurisdiction to rule over the defendant; or lack of subject matter jurisdiction, where the court does not have jurisdiction over the issue at suit.
Acceptance of Known Risk

A plaintiff’s liability may be limited where she has accepted the risks and consequences of her behavior.  The tobacco industry may argue that the dangers of smoking are well known, so liability should be limited.

Type of Tobacco Product

None

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