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Appeals Court Limits Use of Jury Findings by Tobacco Plaintiffs 

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued a significant tobacco-related decision on Thursday, ruling that jury findings from a previous tobacco lawsuit can be applied to new cases, but only if the plaintiffs prove that they apply.

The ruling concerned factual findings from Engle v. RJ Reynolds, a Florida class action brought on behalf of consumers who smoked before warning labels were required on cigarette packages. In that case, the jury concluded that the cigarettes smoked by the plaintiffs were defective and addictive, and that the manufacturer failed to properly disclose the danger of smoking to consumers.

The Florida Supreme Court eventually decertified the Engle class but allowed individual plaintiffs to file suit by January 2008. As a result, nearly 4,000 such cases are now working their way through Florida federal courts.

In its decision, the court said that the findings “must be given the same preclusive effect in this federal court case that they would be given if the case were in state court.”

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