Jump to full article: Business Journal of South Florida, 2003-03-03
Author: Robin Londner
Intro: In its praise for a decision brought by a Miami U.S. District Court jury in favor of the company and a competitor, cigarette maker Philip Morris USA (NYSE: MO) has reissued its complaints for class action lawsuits.
Criticism over class actions from that company and others comes as cigarette makers await a decision on their appeal to a $145 billion verdict against them and in favor of Florida smokers. . .
Ohlemeyer also said the Allen case, which is unrelated to class action suits, shows why these types of cases should be tried individually.
"Juries must be allowed to decide -on a case-by-case basis - the reasons why a person smokes, their awareness of the health risks and whether a cigarette company improperly influenced their smoking decisions," he said.
Ohlemeyer added juries cannot fairly decide these types of issues when claims of thousands of smokers are lumped together and the case is tried as a class action.
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