Suit - The Oregon Court of Appeals affirms one jury award, but splits and voids a $100 million judgment
Jump to full article: The Oregonian, 2006-05-18
Author: ASHBEL S. GREEN
Intro: A divided Oregon Court of Appeals on Wednesday issued a split decision in a landmark tobacco lawsuit, upholding a jury award of $168,514 in compensatory damages against cigarette maker Philip Morris but reversing $100 million in punitive damages.
The ruling affirmed a Multnomah County jury's 2002 decision that Philip Morris fraudulently marketed low-tar cigarettes as a healthier alternative to ordinary smokes.
But a majority of the court also decided to send the question of punitive damages back for a new trial because the lower court failed to tell the jurors not to punish Philip Morris for conduct that hurt people in other states. . . .
Although both sides in the Schwarz case plan to appeal, both found something to like about the appeals court ruling.
"Not only did they uphold the fraud, but they upheld the jury finding that the fraud was sufficiently reprehensible to justify punitive damages," said Charles Tauman, an attorney for the Schwarz family. "These two findings are very important to other cases around the country." . . .
Although the lawsuit subsequently filed by her family made several claims, the groundbreaking thrust of her case was that Philip Morris lied to smokers by selling Merits as a less harmful alternative to ordinary cigarettes when company officials were well aware that smokers altered their habits to get more nicotine.
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