McGraw, et al. v. American Tobacco Co.
McGraw, et al. v. American Tobacco Co., 681 S.E.2d 96, Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia (2009).
- United States
- Jun 22, 2009
- Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia
McGraw, et al. v. American Tobacco Co., 681 S.E.2d 96, Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia (2009).
In 1998, states and participating tobacco manufacturers entered into an agreement known as the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA), which arose from states' actions against tobacco companies to recover costs spent on healthcare services provided to individuals suffering from tobacco-related illnesses, allegedly resulting from tobacco marketing, advertising and lobbying. A dispute arose whether the state had diligently fulfilled its obligations of enforcing statutes needed for the calculation of tobacco companies' annual payments to the state under the MSA. The tobacco companies filed a motion to compel arbitration of this dispute under the terms of the MSA. The trial court declared the arbitration appropriate, and the state appealed. The Court affirmed the trial court's ruling, finding that the MSA provided for arbitration of a diligent enforcement determination in a single, unitary proceeding involving all participants.