Jump to full article: AP, 2003-01-10
Intro: A state judge has ordered a new trial for a former American Airlines flight attendant who lost her claim against the tobacco industry that secondhand cigarette smoke caused her sinus disease.
Circuit Judge Leslie Rothenberg agreed with Suzette Janoff's attorneys that testimony by an expert witness for cigarette makers was unfairly prejudicial and did not follow state rules.
The judge also had harsh words for tobacco lawyers during Wednesday's ruling, saying they argued a position they should have known was wrong.
The jury in Janoff's case agreed last September that she suffered from sinusitis, rhinitis, allergies and other ear, nose and throat problems but concluded her on-the-job exposure to smoke was not the cause. The tobacco expert rejected secondhand smoke as a cause of sinusitis despite evidence presented by Janoff that it does.
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