Jump to full article: Associated Press (AP), 2006-05-17
Author: WILLIAM McCALL AP Business Writer
Intro: A landmark $150 million jury verdict against Philip Morris was vacated Wednesday by an appeals court, which ordered a new trial to reconsider damages against the tobacco manufacturer after a trial judge ruled the amount was excessive.
The March 2002 verdict, later reduced to $100 million, was the first such award in the nation based on claims that low-tar cigarettes led smokers to believe they were less dangerous than regular cigarettes. . . .
The appeals court also upheld the portion of the jury ruling on fraud, negligence and liability by Philip Morris.
A spokesman for the Altria Group Inc., parent of Philip Morris, said company attorneys were reviewing the ruling.
"It's a fairly complicated opinion, but obviously they've overturned the punitive damages," said spokesman John Sorrells.
A jury ordered Philip Morris to pay $150 million in punitive damages to the estate of Michelle Schwarz, of Salem, who died of lung cancer in 1999 at age 53.
The jury had agreed with lawyers for her family, who claimed that Philip Morris fraudulently marketed its low-tar Merit brand as safer than regular cigarettes.
But Multnomah County Circuit Judge Roosevelt Robinson found that amount "grossly excessive" and reduced it by a third, to $100 million.
The Oregon Court of Appeals overturned the jury verdict Wednesday and sent the case back to the circuit court to reconsider the amount of punitive damages.
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