Tobacco.org

Brooklyn Jury in Smoker's Trial Issues First Punitive Damages Award On East Coast in a Tobacco Case -- $20 Million 

Edward L. Sweda, Jr., Senior Staff Attorney for the Tobacco Products Liability Project at Northeastern University School of Law attended the punitive damages hearing. He notes that, "the jury was clearly repulsed by the reprehensible conduct of Brown and Williamson, the Tobacco Institute, and the Council for Tobacco Research. They sent a clear message to the entire tobacco industry that conduct which values profits over the lives of consumers will not be tolerated in our society."

Mark Gottlieb, also a staff attorney with TPLP, added that, "this historic verdict combined with an appellate ruling in New York last month that makes it significantly easier for plaintiffs to present evidence of industry wrongdoing to juries in these cases will likely result in a marked increase in tobacco litigation in New York state in 2004 and the foreseeable future. This verdict also comes during the week the the tobacco industry is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the publication of a full page newspaper ad that ran in more than 400 papers promising to thoroughly investigate claims that smoking harms health. Today's verdict may have cut those celebrations a bit short."

Jump to full article »

LETTER: SWEDA: Cigarette makers also responsible 

In your recent editorial "Man responsible for smoker's death got the message, " Jan., 12, you state that a "people that cherishes freedom of choice as much as Americans do must understand that along with choice comes responsibility for the results of those decisions."

I fully agree with that statement.

However, the conclusion of that editorial - that smoker's widow who sues a tobacco company should not receive any payment whatsoever for the lung cancer death of her husband, -- is flawed precisely because you are unwilling to hold those who work for a tobacco company to the same standard of bearing responsibility for one's actions. . . .

the evidence presented to the Brooklyn injury in this case demonstrated that Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co. fraudulently concealed from the public what they knew about the hazards of smoking back in the 1950s and 1960s prior to the time for the warning labels on packages and conspired with other cigarettes companies to hide that information. On Jan. 9, the Brooklyn jury, which was outraged by what they leaned about Brown & Williamson's reprehensible corporate misconduct, rendered a punitive damage award of $20 million. The jury's courageous decision upholds the principle that all people, including those who sell, glamorize and profit from a deadly and addictive product, should be held accountable for their actions.

Jump to full article »

LETTER: SWEDA: Tobacco companies share responsibility 

the conclusion of that editorial - that a smoker's widow who sues a tobacco company should not receive any payment whatsoever for the lung-cancer death of her husband - is flawed precisely because you are unwilling to hold those who work for a tobacco company to the same standard of bearing responsibility for one's actions.

Harry Frankson, who started smoking in 1954 at the age of 13, has already borne the ultimate responsibility for his actions . . .

He did exactly what the cigarette companies wanted him to do: buy cigarettes, smoke them and buy some more.

Meanwhile, the evidence presented to the Brooklyn jury in this case demonstrated that Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co. fraudulently concealed from the public what they knew about the hazards of smoking back in the 1950s and 1960s prior to the time of the warning labels on packages and conspired with other cigarette companies to hide that information.

On Jan. 9, the Brooklyn jury, which was outraged by what they learned about Brown & Williamson's reprehensible corporate misconduct, rendered a punitive damage award of $20 million. The jury's courageous decision upholds the principle that all people, including those who sell, glamorize and profit from a deadly and addictive product, should be held accountable for their actions.

Jump to full article »

NY Jury Awards $20 Million In Damages to Smoker's Family 

A Brooklyn jury Friday awarded $20 million in punitive damages to the widow of a man who died of lung cancer after smoking Lucky Strikes for 43 years.

Stephen Kottak, a spokesman for Brown & Williamson, the maker of Lucky Strikes, called the verdict "outrageous" and said the company was confident it would be reversed upon appeal.

Supreme Court Justice Herbert Kramer's instructions to the jury failed to incorporate limits on punitive damages required by recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions, Mr. Kottak said.

Jump to full article »

EDITORIAL: Support research; donate lawsuit payouts 

There are cancer research facilities across the nation, and if tobacco companies are having to dish out millions in lawsuits, it should be going to these foundations that look to cure cancer.

In the New York case, Gladys told The New York Times, "Nothing is going to replace my husband. But to win the case against the item that killed him is very satisfying to me."

Yes, $20 million is very satisfying. It would be even more satisfying if it were donated to help find a cure for the disease that killed her husband.

Jump to full article »

EDITORIAL: Man responsible for smoker's death got the message 

Unfortunately, it's already too late for the jury to "send a message" to the man responsible for Harry Frankson's death: Harry Frankson. A smoker for more than 40 years at the time of his death, Frankson had daily exposure to the U.S. surgeon general's warning that has been on cigarette packs since 1966. Like nearly all smokers, Frankson saw that warning several times a day for more than 40 years. If a person ignores that many warnings he certainly bears responsibility for the consequences. . . .

Making choices with more permanent risks, such as choosing to smoke, is really no different: One weighs the risks against the rewards and chooses accordingly, aware there are consequences. That's the way freedom works.

Jump to full article »

Local Smokers React To National Tobacco Verdict 

A New York jury found tobacco company Brown & Williamson liable for the death of Harry Frankson, a man who smoked unfiltered Lucky Strikes cigarettes for decades.

We talked to a few smokers in Gulfport, and many of them don't see the verdict as the beginning demise of the tobacco industry, but they do see tobacco addiction as a choice that should not be rewarded.

"As far as getting a 20-million settlement, that's wrong. That is so wrong. They should have helped maybe to bury the man . But I don't think that woman deserved 20-million dollars because nobody forced her husband to smoke those cigarettes either," said Tobacco and Beer Discount Store assistant manager Jo-Ellen Hale.

Jump to full article »

Backgrounder on Frankson Punitive Damages Verdict 

Jury Kicks Butt 

In a precedent-setting case, Brooklyn jurors yesterday awarded $20 million to the widow of a cigarette smoker who died of cancer, saying they wanted to teach Big Tobacco a lesson for selling a deadly product.

"We wanted to hurt them. We wanted to make a statement," said juror Lenore Toscano, a 61-year-old unemployed administrative assistant who quit smoking 20 years ago.

"The point was, you can't conceal information if you know the product you're making can cause death."

Jump to full article »

I'm disappointed with the result. I wanted it high to punish them because a lot of people are dying, not just Frankson.
Unidentified sixth juror, the one who abstained from the $20 punitive damage verdict.

Jury hits cig giant for $8M 

Gladys Frankson, 62, also was awarded $12 million from two now-defunct tobacco industry groups. Her lawyers are researching whether Brown & Williamson also could be held liable for that judgment. . . .

Juror Lenore Toscano, 61, said the tobacco companies concealed evidence that smoking causes cancer.

A Brown & Williamson spokesman called the verdict outrageous and expressed confidence it would be reversed on appeal.

Jump to full article »

UPDATE 3-US tobacco jury awards $20 mln in punitive damages 

The juror who abstained, a 51-year-old school safety officer, said he had wanted to award $400 million.

"You've got to hurt them in their pocketbook, they're a big company," he said.

Brown & Williamson is the U.S. cigarette unit of London-based British American Tobacco Plc <BATS.L> <BTI.A>. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc. <RJR.N> in October announced plans to buy Brown & Williamson from British American Tobacco. That deal has not yet been completed.

Jump to full article »

UPDATE - US tobacco jury awards $20 mln in punitive damages 

Cigarette maker Brown and Williamson must pay $8 million to the widow of a man who smoked for 43 years, a New York jury said on Friday. . .

"This was the first time, following three industry wins in three years in Brooklyn, that a New York jury awarded damages to a smoker," said Prudential tobacco analyst Rob Campagnino. "While the damages do not represent a meaningful financial issue, it is marginally disconcerting to see a loss in a jurisdiction in which the industry had previously been so successful."

The juror who abstained, a 51-year-old school safety officer, said he had wanted to award $400 million.

"You've got to hurt them in their pocketbook, they're a big company," he said.

Jump to full article »

• $8 Million Award to Widow Punishes Tobacco Company 

While far smaller than some awards against tobacco companies in Oregon, California and elsewhere in the country, plaintiffs' lawyers and some financial analysts said the verdict could be a turning point, encouraging many more suits against tobacco companies. It is also helping to demonstrate, they said, that there are cracks in what was for decades a legal armor that seemed to make tobacco companies invulnerable to such lawsuits nationwide.

"It will force the industry to stop saying these large punitive damage awards from juries are just some aberration from the West Coast," said Mary Aronson, an analyst who studies the suits for institutional investors. "Now, it's moving east."

The award was the first in the Northeast against a tobacco company in a case involving an individual smoker's death since an eventually abandoned case in New Jersey in 1988. . . .

Several jurors in the Brooklyn case said that the panel was divided and that the $20 million total punitive award was a compromise, with two of the six members working to limit the damages and others pressing for as much as $1 billion. . . .

Another juror, a 51-year-old school safety officer who declined to provide his name, said he had been outraged by evidence in the case that tobacco companies covered up the dangers of smoking. He said "they're going to keep doing it" unless they were punished.

Jump to full article »

N.Y. Jury Awards Punitive Damages Vs. Brown & Williamson 

A Kings County Supreme Court jury Friday awarded $20 million in punitive damages to a lung cancer victim's widow, according to one of the widow's attorneys.

The award comes about three weeks after the same six-person jury found Brown & Williamson (AMEX:BTI - News) partially responsible for the man's illness and death. . . . .

"While the damages do not represent a meaningful financial issue, it is marginally disconcerting to see a loss in a jurisdiction in which the industry had previously been so successful," Campagnino said.

The verdict is likely to make it "significantly easier" for plaintiffs to present evidence of tobacco industry wrongdoing to juries and could result "in a marked increase in tobacco litigation" in New York, said Mark Gottlieb, an attorney with the antitobacco group Tobacco Products Liability Project at Northeastern University School of Law.

Jump to full article »

• Brown & Williamson Tobacco Statement on Punitive Damage Verdict in Frankson Trial 

Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation says that it is disappointed by today's jury verdict on the punitive damage phase in the Frankson trial. . . .

"The verdict is outrageous given the United States Supreme Court's recent decision limiting the amounts that juries can award in punitive damage cases," said Gareth Cooper, an attorney for Brown & Williamson. "The trial court refused to follow the Supreme Court's ruling which limits punitive damages to a single digit multiple of the compensatory damages previously awarded by the jury. We are confident that this verdict will be reversed on appeal."

Jump to full article »