Jump to full article: Law.com, 2006-08-04
Author: Mike McKee The Recorder
Intro: If the U.S. Supreme Court can provide guidance, why not let it?
On Wednesday, at the urging of tobacco giant Philip Morris USA Inc., the California Supreme Court put on hold a major punitive damages case to await a ruling by the nation's highest court on identical issues.
The state court's 6-0 vote freezes for now an April 21 appellate court ruling that OK'd a $28 million punitive damages award against Virginia-based Philip Morris -- an amount 33 times greater than the compensatory damages in the case. . . .
Philip Morris' attorneys at Arnold & Porter want the punitive damages reduced or dismissed, but asked the California Supreme Court to await the findings of the federal court in Philip Morris USA Inc. v. Williams, 05-1256.
The higher court granted certiorari on May 30 to decide whether the Oregon Supreme Court was justified in affirming an award of $79.5 million in punitive damages to a longtime smoker, which was about 100 times the compensatory damages. . . .
Both the Oregon court and Los Angeles' 2nd District Court of Appeal in the California case had found the tobacco manufacturer's conduct so reprehensible that it justified punitive damages in excess of a single-digit ratio.
In both cases, 45-year smokers Jesse Williams of Oregon and Betty Bullock of California died of lung cancer.
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