In a case arising from a settlement agreement between a class of flight attendants and several tobacco companies, a jury awarded an individual flight attendant $5.5 million in damages, finding that exposure to second-hand smoke at her workplace caused her to develop chronic sinusitis. Upon consideration of defendants' motions to set aside the jury verdict, the Court reaffirmed its interpretation of the burden-shifting stipulations contained in the settlement agreement as requiring individual plaintiffs to prove only causation when prosecuting individual claims for damages. The Court's interpretation rendered proof of all other elements of plaintiffs' claims unnecessary. The Court further held that the apportionment of damages to the defendants according to their relative market shares was appropriate, but reduced the damages award to $500,000.
French v. Philip Morris Incorporated, et al., Case No. 00-01706 CA 22, Circuit Court of the 11th Judicial Circuit in and for Miami-Dade County, Florida, General Jurisdiction Division (2002).
United States
Sep 1, 2002
Circuit Court of the 11th Judicial Circuit in and for Miami-Dade County, Florida, General Jurisdiction Division
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.
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.
Type of Tobacco Product
None
Limitations regarding the use of quotes The quotes provided here reflect statements from a specific decision. Accordingly, the International Legal Consortium (ILC) cannot guarantee that an appellate court has not reversed a lower court decision which may influence the applicability or influence of a given quote. All quotes have been selected based on the subjective evaluations undertaken by the ILC meaning that quotes provided here may not accurately or comprehensively represent a given court’s opinion or conclusion, as such quotes may have originally appeared alongside other negative opinions or accompanying facts. Further, some quotes are derived from unofficial English translations, which may alter their original meaning. We emphasize the need to review the original decision and related decisions before authoritatively relying on quotes. Using quotes provided here should not be construed as legal advice and is not intended to be a substitute for legal counsel on any subject matter in any jurisdiction. Please see the full limitations at https://www.tobaccocontrollaws.org/about.
"Plaintiff’s counsel’s description that “Lynn French wakes each day to a sea of painful and debilitating maladies caused by cigarettes smoke” is, most respectfully, his own invention. He adds to the symptoms actually reported by the plaintiff and her doctor, as described above, those discussed by other witnesses as possible symptoms and complications of sinusitis, such as life threatening orbital abscesses and asthma. There was no evidence that the plaintiff had such symptoms, was likely to develop them, or was even fearful of developing them.
In view of the evidence of the plaintiff’s pain and suffering, the award of 5.5 million dollars is, indeed, shocking. Plaintiff’s counsel attempts to equate the condition of Ms. French to the condition of plaintiffs in cases he claims present “comparable injuries” and in which the courts have found that a remittitur of multimillion dollar awards was improper. The case plaintiff cites as “most on point” is Oakes v. Pittsburgh Corning Corp., 546 So. 2d 427 (3d DCA 1989). If the only evidence in Oakes, were as described in plaintiff’s submission, that the plaintiff suffered from “shortness of breath and coughing spells,” certainly a remittitur of the award of 2.5 million dollars would have been upheld on appeal. However, as set forth in the Third District’s opinion, the evidence of Mr. Oakes’ suffering was overwhelming. It is not remotely comparable to the evidence in our case."
Limitations regarding the use of quotes The quotes provided here reflect statements from a specific decision. Accordingly, the International Legal Consortium (ILC) cannot guarantee that an appellate court has not reversed a lower court decision which may influence the applicability or influence of a given quote. All quotes have been selected based on the subjective evaluations undertaken by the ILC meaning that quotes provided here may not accurately or comprehensively represent a given court’s opinion or conclusion, as such quotes may have originally appeared alongside other negative opinions or accompanying facts. Further, some quotes are derived from unofficial English translations, which may alter their original meaning. We emphasize the need to review the original decision and related decisions before authoritatively relying on quotes. Using quotes provided here should not be construed as legal advice and is not intended to be a substitute for legal counsel on any subject matter in any jurisdiction. Please see the full limitations at https://www.tobaccocontrollaws.org/about.
In a case arising from a settlement agreement between a class of flight attendants and several tobacco companies, a jury awarded an individual flight attendant $5.5 million in damages, finding that exposure to second-hand smoke at her workplace caused her to develop chronic sinusitis. Upon consideration of defendants' motions to set aside the jury verdict, the Court reaffirmed its interpretation of the burden-shifting stipulations contained in the settlement agreement as requiring individual plaintiffs to prove only causation when prosecuting individual claims for damages. The Court's interpretation rendered proof of all other elements of plaintiffs' claims unnecessary. The Court further held that the apportionment of damages to the defendants according to their relative market shares was appropriate, but reduced the damages award to $500,000.