Jump to full article: Globe and Mail (ca), 2001-03-29
Author: KIRK MAKIN / JUSTICE REPORTER
Intro: The families of three young people who burned to death in a fire caused by careless smoking have won a major victory against a tobacco company that failed to make a cigarette that puts itself out.
An Ontario judge recently rejected a legal manoeuvre by Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd. to throw out the survivors' class-action lawsuit on the basis that it lacked sufficient legal grounding.
Mr. Justice Peter Cumming of the Ontario Superior Court said instead that it was plausible to argue that the company sold a product it chose not to make safer.
"It is arguable that by enhancing the addictive features of the product, they encourage obsessive use that leads to people smoking when they are weary, unwell or likely to fall asleep," he said. "The pertinent issue is whether, notwithstanding the notoriety of the risks of misuse, manufacturers have deliberately designed the product in such a way as to cause misuse."
His ruling means that the lawsuit, launched by the Ragoonanan and Baboolal families, can move forward to the next pretrial stage: certification as a valid class action, suitable for trial.
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Quotes from this article:
It is arguable that by enhancing the addictive features of the product, [cigarette manufacturers] encourage obsessive use that leads to people smoking when they are weary,
unwell or likely to fall asleep. The pertinent issue is whether, notwithstanding the notoriety of the risks of misuse, manufacturers have
deliberately designed the product in such a way as to cause misuse.
Mr. Justice Peter Cumming of the Ontario Superior Court, who has allowed the Ragoonanan/Baboolal fire-safe cigarette case to move forward. MAKIN, K., <I>Tobacco firm loses round in lawsuit over fatal fire</I>
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