A Florida state appeals court overturned a $79.2 million jury award to the daughter of a deceased smoker, saying that the damages to be paid by Winston-Salem-based R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. were excessive, according to The News Service of Florida.
The 2010 jury award was part of thousands of lawsuits against cigarette makers stemming from a 2006 Florida Supreme Court decision that established findings about the health dangers of smoking and past misrepresentation by the tobacco industry.
The jury had awarded $7.2 million in compensatory damages and $72 million in punitive damages to Dianne Webb, the daughter of James Cayce Horner, who began smoking as a teen in the 1930s and smoked RJR cigarette brands before dying of lung cancer in 1996, according to the News Service.
The 1st District Court of Appeal based in Tallahassee overturned the award, saying that the damages assessed by the jury were excessive, and sent the case back to the lower court to determine a reduced amount of damages.
In a statement, RJR said that the decision limits the amounts a Florida jury can award for pain and suffering, and that the trial courts are obligated to exclude evidence and arguments "that are meant to inflame the jury."
The News Service of Florida reports that this is the second time in less than two months that the appeals court ordered the reduction of a large judgment against RJR, noting a $40.8 million award of punitive damages was overturned as excessive.
when you'll be able to purchase cigarettes for less, why pay therefore a lot of on cigarettes. we have a tendency to tend to supply the cigarettes for fewer and save a heap of.discount cigarettes
ReplyDelete