Jump to full article: Minnesota Lawyer , 2009-01-09
Author: Michelle Lore Associate Editor
Intro: Michael Dahl has smoked two packs of Camel Lights every day for more than 20 years. David Scott Huber has smoked nearly a pack of Camel Lights, Winston Select or Winston Lights every day for the past 10 years. The two Minnesotans are now suing the cigarette manufacturer, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, on behalf of all people in the state who have smoked their “light” brands over the years.
The plaintiffs aren’t claiming that their health has suffered as a result of their tobacco use, but rather that they were deceived by the company’s advertising and marketing about the nature and effect of smoking “light” cigarettes.
The case stalled for a while due to a split in the U.S. circuit courts over whether the claims were pre-empted. But the decision from the U.S. Supreme Court last month in Altria Group Inc. v. Good that state law fraud claims relating to cigarette packaging and marketing are not pre-empted by federal law has allowed Dahl, Huber and many other plaintiffs to begin moving forward again.
Minneapolis attorney Gale Pearson, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs, said it’s important the tobacco companies don’t get away with deceiving customers into thinking light cigarettes are better for them than regular cigarettes.
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