Jump to full article: Missouri Lawyers Weekly, 2006-08-28
Author: Scott Lauck
Intro: A relatively small award in a lawsuit against two tobacco companies could lay the legal groundwork for potentially millions of dollars in similar suits around the state.
The Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, last week affirmed a Jackson County Circuit Court decision awarding $2.1 million to a throat cancer survivor and his wife. The man, Michael Thompson, had sued Philip Morris USA Inc. and Brown and Williamson Tobacco Corp. for negligence and strict product liability regarding their cigarettes.
A jury split the fault for Thompson's injuries among the various parties, awarding 50 percent of the blame to Thompson, 40 percent to Philip Morris and 10 percent to Brown and Williamson. . .
In deciding Thompson v. Brown and Williamson (MLW No. 54556) (74 pages), the appeals court noted that Missouri once adhered to the standard of contributory negligence, which allowed that if a plaintiff was even slightly at fault for the accident then no damages would be awarded. The standard was abolished in 1987, when a new state law adopted comparative fault.
In its opinion, the appeals court said the tobacco company's arguments "would effectively reinstate the concept of contributory negligence" long since abandoned by the legislature.
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