Xxxxxxxx Tobacco Co. [Xxxxx Progeny] Circuit Court, Levy County, (Bronson, FL) $8 million in compensatory damages; 90% of fault assigned to RJR Tobacco, which reduced the award to $7.2 million; $72 million in punitive damages. See “— Xxxxx and Xxxxx Progeny Cases” below.
Xxxxxxxx Tobacco Co the jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff, found the decedent, Xxxxxxx Xxxxxx, to be 30% at fault and RJR Tobacco to be 70% at fault, and awarded $7 million in compensatory damages and $8.5 million in punitive damages.
Xxxxxxxx Tobacco Co. [Xxxxx Progeny] Circuit Court, Broward County, (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) $5.2 million in compensatory damages; 77.5% of fault assigned to RJR Tobacco, which reduced the award to $4.06 million; $25 million in punitive damages. See “— Xxxxx and Xxxxx Progeny Cases” below.
Xxxxxxxx Tobacco Co. [Xxxxx Progeny] Circuit Court, Xxxxx County, (Jacksonville, FL) $1.1 million in compensatory damages; 20% of fault assigned to RJR Tobacco, which reduced the award to $218,600. No punitive damages awarded. See “— Xxxxx and Xxxxx Progeny Cases” below.
Xxxxxxxx Tobacco Co a case filed in December 2007 in the Circuit Court, Broward County, Florida, a jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff, finding the decedent, Xxxxxx Xxxxxx, to be 35% at fault, RJR Tobacco to be 30% at fault and the remaining defendants to be 35% at fault, and awarded $15.1 million in compensatory damages and $2.5 million in punitive damages each against RJR Tobacco and the remaining defendants. The plaintiff alleged that the decedent suffered from nicotine addiction and lung cancer as a result of using the defendants’ products. In August 2010, final judgment was entered against RJR Tobacco in the amount of $4.5 million in compensatory damages, and $2.5 million in punitive damages. RJR Tobacco filed a notice of appeal and the plaintiff filed a notice of cross appeal. In December 2010, the court entered an amended final judgment to provide that interest would run from April 26, 2010. The defendants filed a joint notice of appeal to the Fourth DCA of the amended final judgment, and RJR Tobacco posted a supersedeas bond in the amount of approximately $2.4 million. Oral argument occurred on September 27, 2012. A decision is pending. On May 20, 2010, in Xxxxxxx v. X. X. Xxxxxxxx Tobacco Co ., a case filed in October 2007 in the Circuit Court, Broward County, Florida, a jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff, found RJR Tobacco to be 77.5% at fault and the decedent, Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxx, to be 22.5% at fault, and awarded $5.2 million in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages. The plaintiff alleged that the decedent was addicted to cigarettes and as a result developed one or more smoking related medical conditions and/or diseases. Post-trial motions were denied, but the court, in accordance with the Florida statutory limitation on punitive damage awards, ordered the punitive damage award of $25 million be reduced to $15.7 million – three times the compensatory damages award of $5.2 million. In August 2010, the court entered final judgment in the amount of $4.06 million in compensatory damages and $15.7 million in punitive damages. RJR Tobacco filed a notice of appeal to the Fourth DCA and posted a supersedeas bond in the amount of $5 million. The plaintiff also filed a notice of appeal. Briefing is complete. Oral argument has not been scheduled.
Xxxxxxxx Tobacco Co the jury returned a verdict in favor of the defendants, including RJR Tobacco. The case was filed in January 2011, in the Circuit Court, Alachua County, Florida. The plaintiff alleged that as a result of using the defendants’ products, she suffers from lung cancer and emphysema. Final judgment was entered in July 2013. The plaintiff filed a notice of appeal to the First District Court of Appeal, and the defendants filed a notice of cross appeal in August 2013. Oral argument is scheduled for October 14, 2014.
Xxxxxxxx Tobacco Co a jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff, found the decedent, Xxxxxx Xxxxxxxx, to be 15% at fault and RJR Tobacco to be 85% at fault, and awarded $5 million in compensatory damages. Punitive damages were not sought. The case was filed in December 2007, in the Circuit Court, Miami-Dade County, Florida. The plaintiff alleged that as a result of using the defendant’s products, the decedent suffered from pharyngeal cancer. Post-trial motions are pending. Final judgment was entered against RJR Tobacco in the amount of $4.25 million in compensatory damages. RJR Tobacco, B&W and other cigarette manufacturer defendants settled Broin v. Xxxxxx Xxxxxx, Inc. in October 1997. This case had been brought in Florida state court on behalf of flight attendants alleged to have suffered from diseases or ailments caused by exposure to ETS in airplane cabins. The settlement agreement required the participating tobacco companies to pay a total of $300 million in three annual $100 million installments, allocated among the companies by market share, to fund research on the early detection and cure of diseases associated with tobacco smoke. It also required those companies to pay a total of $49 million for the plaintiffs’ counsel’s fees and expenses. RJR Tobacco’s portion of these payments was approximately $86 million; B&W’s portion of these payments was approximately $57 million. The settlement agreement bars class members from bringing aggregate claims or obtaining punitive damages and also bars individual claims to the extent that they are based on fraud, misrepresentation, conspiracy to commit fraud or misrepresentation, RICO, suppression, concealment or any other alleged intentional or willful conduct. The defendants agreed that, in any individual case brought by a class member, the defendant will bear the burden of proof with respect to whether ETS can cause certain specifically enumerated diseases, referred to as “general causation.” With respect to all other issues relating to liability, including whether an individual plaintiff’s disease was caused by his or her exposure to ETS in airplane cabins, referred to as “specific causation,” the individual plaintiff will have the burden of proof. On September 7, 1999, the Florida Supreme Court approved the settlement. The Broin II cases arose out of the settlement of this case. On October 5, 2000, the Broin court entered an order applicable to all Broin II cases that the terms of the Broin settlement agreement do not ...
Xxxxxxxx Tobacco Co a case filed in December 2007, in the Circuit Court, Escambia County, Florida, the court declared a mistrial due to the inability to seat a jury. The plaintiff alleged that as a result of his use of the defendants’ products, he suffers from nicotine addiction and one or more smoking-related diseases and/or conditions, and sought an unspecified amount of compensatory damages. A new trial will be scheduled at a later date.
Xxxxxxxx Tobacco Co the jury returned a verdict in favor of RJR Tobacco. For a detailed description of the above-described cases, see “— Xxxxx and Xxxxx Progeny Cases” below. As of September 17 2014, no non-Xxxxx Progeny individual smoking and health cases in which RJR Tobacco was a defendant had been tried in the third quarter. The following chart reflects the verdicts in the smoking and health cases or health-care cost recovery cases that have been tried and remain pending as of September 17, 2014, in which verdicts have been returned against RJR Tobacco or B&W, or both. For information on the verdicts in the Xxxxx Progeny cases that have been tried and remain pending as of September 17, 2014, in which verdicts have been returned against RJR Tobacco or B&W, or both, see the Xxxxx Progeny cases chart above. For information on the post-trial status of individual smoking and health cases and the governmental health-care cost recovery case, see “— Individual Smoking and Health Cases,” and “—Health-Care Cost Recovery Cases – U.S. Department of Justice Case,” respectively, below: August 17, 0000 Xxxxxx Xxxxxx v. Xxxxxx Xxxxxx USA, Inc. [Governmental Health-Care Cost Recovery] U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington, DC) RJR Tobacco and B&W were found liable for civil RICO claims; were enjoined from using certain brand descriptors and from making certain misrepresentations; and were ordered to make corrective communications on five subjects, including smoking and health and addiction, to reimburse the U.S. Department of Justice appropriate costs associated with the lawsuit, and to maintain document web sites.
