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Jump to full article: (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) Sun-Sentinel, 2009-11-19
Author: Brittany Wallman, Sun Sentinel
Intro: The sister of former Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle on Thursday won a $300 million jury verdict, the largest individual win in the Big Tobacco lawsuits in Florida.
Cindy Naugle, an office manager and bookkeeper at Layton's Garage in Fort Lauderdale, sued Philip Morris, owner of her cigarette brand of choice, Benson & Hedges.
Naugle was found only 10 percent at fault for taking up smoking when she was 20 years old. She quit 25 years later.
Her lawyers, Bob Kelley, Todd Falzone and Todd McPharlin of the Kelley Uustal law firm in Fort Lauderdale, argued that the cigarette maker committed fraud. They contended the tobacco company knew but concealed that smoking cigarettes is addictive and harmful to a smoker's health.
They said Naugle took up smoking in 1968, thinking it would make her look older and sophisticated. She chose the slim, long Benson & Hedges, marketed as sophisticated and feminine, they said.
Naugle, who is 60 now, has emphysema and labors to do the simplest tasks.
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