Massachusetts Jury Orders Tobacco Firm to Pay $71 Million to Family

A jury Tuesday ordered U.S. cigarette maker Lorillard Inc. to pay damages to a dead smoker’s family for allegedly enticing the woman and other black children with free cigarettes given out decades ago.
Evans vs Lorillard was the first case to claim the company targeted minorities, including young children, with samples of Newport cigarettes in the early 1960s. The Suffolk Superior Court ordered Lorillard, which also makes Kent, True, Old Gold and other cigarette brands, to pay $50 million in damages to the estate of Marie Evans and $21 million to her son, William Evans.