Jump to full article: Bloomberg News, 2008-04-03
Author: Bob Van Voris
Intro: ria Group Inc. and other tobacco companies won a decision blocking an $800 billion racketeering class-action lawsuit by U.S. smokers who claimed they were misled into thinking ``light'' cigarettes are safer than regular ones.
The ruling today by a federal appeals court in New York eliminates the biggest single litigation threat against the tobacco industry. Cigarette makers faced the possibility of paying as much as $800 billion under federal law that allows the judge to impose triple damages in racketeering cases.
``While redressing injuries caused by the cigarette industry is `one of the most troubling problems facing our nation today,' not every wrong can have a legal remedy,'' U.S. Circuit Judge John Walker wrote for a unanimous three-judge panel, quoting a 2000 U.S. Supreme Court decision.
The opinion reversed a 540-page ruling in 2006 by U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein in Brooklyn, New York, granting class-action status to the case, which is known as the Schwab case after lead plaintiff Barbara Schwab.
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