An appeals court upheld judgments in favor of two smokers who sued R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) for injuries caused by smoking. The court found that RJR had not been deprived of its right to due process when two juries awarded money damages to the survivors of two smokers. The appeals court found that RJR had a full and fair opportunity to be heard in an earlier class action lawsuit against major tobacco companies (Engle v. Liggett Group, Inc.) and that it was permissible to apply the findings from this class-action regarding tobacco companies’ liability in later lawsuits. Therefore, the court ruled that individuals in later lawsuits need only prove causation and damages specific to their case. They do not have to retry the issue of whether tobacco companies are liable on issues such as misrepresenting the health effects of smoking and producing a defective product.
Alvin Walker, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Albert Walker
George Duke, III, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Sarah Duke
Defendant
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, individually and as successor by merger to the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation and the American Tobacco Company
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.
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.
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.
The tobacco industry may have perpetrated a fraud upon the public or the courts by presenting false information or deliberately hiding known-facts.
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.
"Our deference to the decision in Douglas does not violate the constitutional right of R.J. Reynolds to due process of law. Whether the Supreme Court of Florida calls the relevant doctrine issue preclusion, claim preclusion, or something else, is no concern of ours.
We must give full faith and credit to the decision of the Supreme Court of Florida about how to resolve this latest chapter of the intractable problem of tobacco litigation...So juries often either discounted or rejected the claims of smokers who sought to hold tobacco companies liable for the well-known harms to their health caused by smoking. But a ―wave of suits, brought by resourceful attorneys representing vast claimant pools... We cannot say that the procedures, however novel, adopted by the Supreme Court of Florida to manage thousands of these suits under Florida law violated the federal right of R.J. Reynolds to due process of law."
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.
An appeals court upheld judgments in favor of two smokers who sued R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) for injuries caused by smoking. The court found that RJR had not been deprived of its right to due process when two juries awarded money damages to the survivors of two smokers. The appeals court found that RJR had a full and fair opportunity to be heard in an earlier class action lawsuit against major tobacco companies (Engle v. Liggett Group, Inc.) and that it was permissible to apply the findings from this class-action regarding tobacco companies’ liability in later lawsuits. Therefore, the court ruled that individuals in later lawsuits need only prove causation and damages specific to their case. They do not have to retry the issue of whether tobacco companies are liable on issues such as misrepresenting the health effects of smoking and producing a defective product.