Big Tobacco Hit Hard By Florida Verdict

Sunday, August 15th, 1999 Liability Litigation

In the first class-action lawsuit brought by sick smokers against the tobacco industry to make it to trial, a Florida jury found tobacco manufacturers liable for making a defective product which is addictive and causes emphysema, lung cancer and other illnesses. This is just the first phase of a trial that began last October. Now that the jury has found the tobacco companies liable, they will hear testimony on the cases of the nine individuals who represent the class and will set compensatory and punitive damages in each case. The third and final phase consists of the jury setting damages for the entire class, the size of which has been estimated to be between 40,000 and 1 million people.

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http://www.claimsmag.com/Issues/Aug99/tobacco.asp

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