Xxxxxxxx Tobacco Co a case filed in September 2007 in the Circuit Court, Miami-Dade County, Florida, a jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff, found the plaintiff to be 45% at fault and RJR Tobacco to be 55% at fault, and awarded $8.55 million in compensatory damages. Punitive damages were not at issue. The plaintiff alleged that as a result of using the defendant’s products, he suffers from bladder cancer and emphysema, and sought an unspecified amount of compensatory and punitive damages. The court entered final judgment against RJR Tobacco in the amount of $4.7 million in October 2012, and in August 2013, the court entered an amended final judgment against RJR Tobacco in the amount of $5 million. RJR Tobacco filed a notice of appeal to the Third DCA and posted a supersedeas bond in the amount of $5 million in October 2013. Oral argument occurred on September 3, 2014. A decision is pending.
Xxxxxxxx Tobacco Co a case filed in January 2008, in the Circuit Court, Hillsborough County, Florida, a jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff, found the decedent, Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxx, to be 50% at fault and RJR Tobacco to be 50% at fault, and awarded $5 million in compensatory damages and $2.5 million in punitive damages. The plaintiff alleged that as a result of using the defendant’s products, the decedent suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and heart disease. The plaintiff sought compensatory and punitive damages, costs and interest. In April 2013, the court vacated the punitive damage award, granted a new trial on entitlement to punitive damages and the amount of any such damages and abated the new trial pending the Florida Supreme Court decision in Xxxxxx v. X. X.
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 a case filed in December 2007, in the Circuit Court, Xxxxx County, Florida, a jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff, found the decedent, Xxxxxx Xxxxx, to be 49% at fault and RJR Tobacco to be 51% at fault, and awarded $4.1 million in compensatory damages and $2 million in punitive damages. The plaintiff alleged that as a result of using the defendant’s product, the decedent suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and sought in excess of $15,000 of compensatory damages. Final judgment was entered against RJR Tobacco in the amount of $6.1 million on June 3, 2013. The court entered a corrected final judgment against RJR Tobacco in the amount of $5.5 million and vacated the June 3, 2013 final judgment. RJR Tobacco filed a notice of appeal to the First DCA, and posted a supersedeas bond in the amount of $5 million in July 2013. In July 2014, the First DCA affirmed the trial court’s decision, per curiam, but following the Xxxxx case, certified a conflict to the Florida Supreme Court with Xxxx v. Xxxxxx Xxxxxx USA Inc., both cases are described above. In Xxxxxx 0000, XXX Xxxxxxx filed a notice to invoke the discretionary jurisdiction of the Florida Supreme Court. The Florida Supreme Court stayed the case pending disposition of Xxxx v. Xxxxxx Xxxxxx USA, Inc.
Xxxxxxxx Tobacco Co a case pending in Palm Beach County, Florida, a jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff, found the decedent, Xxxxx Xxxxxx, to be 34% at fault, RJR Tobacco to be 33% at fault and the remaining defendant to be 33% at fault, and awarded $5.8 million in compensatory damages. Punitive damages were not awarded. The plaintiff alleged that as a result of smoking the defendants’ products, the decedent developed chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and sought in excess of $15,000 in compensatory damages. Final judgment was entered against RJR Tobacco in the amount of $1.9 million in September 2013. The defendants filed a joint notice of appeal to the Fourth DCA, and RJR Tobacco posted a supersedeas bond in the amount of $1.9 million in November 2013. The plaintiff filed a notice of cross appeal. Briefing is underway.
Xxxxxxxx Tobacco Co a case pending in Polk County, Florida, a jury returned a verdict in favor of the defendants, including RJR Tobacco. The plaintiff alleged that as a result of smoking the defendants’ products, the decedent, Xxxx Xxxxxxxx, became addicted to smoking cigarettes and suffered from unspecified smoking-related conditions and/or diseases, and sought an unspecified amount of damages. The plaintiff’s motion for a new trial was denied and the court entered final judgment in July 2013. The plaintiff filed a notice of appeal to the Second DCA, and the defendants filed a notice of cross appeal in August 2013. Briefing is complete. Oral argument has not been scheduled.
Xxxxxxxx Tobacco Co. [Xxxxx Progeny] Circuit Court, Escambia County, (Pensacola, FL) $5 million in compensatory damages; 66% of fault assigned to RJR Tobacco, which reduced the award to $3.3 million; $25 million in punitive damages. See “— Xxxxx and Xxxxx Progeny Cases” below.
Xxxxxxxx Tobacco Co a case filed in January 2008, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, a jury returned a verdict in favor of the defendants, including RJR Tobacco. The plaintiff alleged that the decedent, Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxx, was addicted to the defendants’ tobacco products, and as a result, suffered from one or more smoking-related diseases and/or medical conditions. The plaintiff sought compensatory damages for all injuries and losses, all recoverable costs of the case, and all legally recoverable interest. Final judgment was entered in March 2012. The plaintiff filed a notice of appeal to the Eleventh Circuit in July 2012. On September 16, 2014, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the trial court’s judgment. At this time, it is unknown if the plaintiff will seek further review.
Xxxxxxxx Tobacco Co a case filed in December 2007, in the Circuit Court, Palm Beach County, Florida, a jury returned a verdict in favor of RJR Tobacco and the plaintiff, but against the remaining defendants. The jury awarded $4.5 million in compensatory damages and no punitive damages. The jury found the decedent, Xxxxxxxx Xxxxx, to be 45% at fault and the remaining defendants cumulatively to be 55% at fault. The plaintiff alleged that the decedent was addicted to cigarettes manufactured by the defendants, and as a result, developed chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other smoking related illnesses and/or diseases. The plaintiff sought in excess of $15,000 against each defendant, taxable costs and interest. The court denied the plaintiff’s motion for a new trial against RJR Tobacco and denied the remaining defendants’ post-trial motions in June 2011. The remaining defendants filed an appeal to the Fourth DCA, and the plaintiff filed a cross appeal. The plaintiff also filed a notice of appeal of the order denying the plaintiff’s motion for new trial against RJR Tobacco. RJR Tobacco filed a cross appeal of the same order. In August 2013, the Fourth DCA affirmed the final judgment entered by the trial court, including the jury’s verdict of no liability to RJR Tobacco. The Fourth DCA denied the plaintiff’s motion for clarification in September 2013. The deadline to seek review with the Florida Supreme Court is October 16, 2013.
Xxxxxxxx Tobacco Co a case filed in May 1994, in Circuit Court, Miami-Dade County, Florida, in which a class consisting of Florida residents, or their survivors, alleged diseases or medical conditions caused by their alleged “addiction” to cigarettes. The action was brought against the major U.S. cigarette manufacturers, including RJR Tobacco and B&W, seeking actual damages and punitive damages in excess of $100 billion each and the creation of a medical fund to compensate individuals for future health-care costs. In July 1999, the jury found against RJR Tobacco, B&W and the other cigarette-manufacturer defendants in the initial phase, which included common issues related to certain elements of liability, general causation and a potential award of, or entitlement to, punitive damages. On July 14, 2000, in the second phase of the trial, the jury returned a punitive damages verdict in favor of the “Florida class” of approximately $145 billion against all the defendants, with approximately $36.3 billion and $17.6 billion being assigned to RJR Tobacco and B&W, respectively. In November 2000, the trial judge denied all post-trial motions and entered judgment. The Florida Third District Court of Appeal, referred to as Third DCA, reversed the trial court’s final judgment and remanded the case to the Miami-Dade County Circuit Court with instructions to decertify the class. The class appealed, and the Florida Supreme Court accepted the case in May 2004. In July 2006, the court affirmed the dismissal of the punitive damages award and decertified the class, on a going-forward basis. The court preserved a number of class-wide findings from Phase I of the trial, including that cigarettes can cause certain diseases, that nicotine is addictive and that defendants placed defective and unreasonably dangerous cigarettes on the market, and authorized former class members to avail themselves of those findings under certain conditions in individual lawsuits, provided they commence those lawsuits within one year of the date the court’s decision became final. The court specified that the eligible plaintiffs are confined to those Florida citizen residents who suffered or died from smoking-related illnesses that “manifested” themselves on or before November 21, 1996, and that were caused by an addiction to cigarettes that contain nicotine. In Xxxxxx 0000, XXX Xxxxxxx and the other defendants filed a rehearing motion arguing, among other things, that the findings from the Xxxxx trial were not sufficie...