Trial Lawyer News
Personal Injury Law News
February 23, 2009
Florida Jury Awards $8 Million To Smoker's Widow
A jury in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has ordered cigarette-maker Philip Morris to pay $8 million in damages to the widow of a smoker who died of lung cancer in a case that could set the standard for 8,000 similar Florida lawsuits.
The six jurors deliberated for more than two days before returning the award for Elaine Hess, whose husband, Stuart, died in 1997 at age 55 after decades as a chain-smoker.
The award amounts to $3 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages against Richmond, Va.-based Philip Morris USA, a unit of Altria Group. Hess' attorneys sought up to $130 million.
"It wasn't about the money from the beginning," Hess said after the verdict. "It was about doing the right thing."
Philip Morris attorney Kenneth Reilly said an appeal was certain.
The Hess case was the first to go to trial since the Florida Supreme Court in 2006 voided a $145 billion class-action jury award in the so-called Engle case, by far the highest punitive damage award in U.S. history. The court said each smoker's case had to be decided individually, but let stand that jury's findings that tobacco companies knowingly sold dangerous products and hid risks from the public.
To be included in those findings, smokers or their families had to sue individually by Jan. 11, 2008.
The Hess trial, which began Feb. 3, included video of the widely discredited 1994 testimony before Congress in which top executives of the major tobacco companies, including Philip Morris, denied that smoking was addictive. The jury in the Hess case previously found that Stuart Hess was hopelessly addicted, even as Philip Morris attorneys pointed to evidence he was capable of quitting.
The Hess case has been closely watched by the tobacco industry and by the thousands of other Florida smokers and survivors who have sued. Although it does not directly control the outcome of the other lawsuits, the Hess case could signal how many of them will turn out.
The original Florida lawsuit was filed in 1994 by a Miami Beach pediatrician, Dr. Howard Engle, who had smoked for decades and couldn't quit. The class of smokers was estimated at up to 700,000 when the giant $145 billion award was issued in 2000.
For decades, tobacco companies almost never lost lawsuits filed by smokers, but more recently, they've had several major judgments against them. Philip Morris, for example, is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court a $79.5 million jury award in an Oregon case; other large damage awards against the industry have been reversed or reduced on appeal.
Sometimes, personal injury expenses can be overwhelming, and contacting a lawyer becomes necessary.
Dealing with insurance companies can sometimes be difficult. If you are considering an injury case, contact the Houston Personal injury lawyers of the Stephens Law Firm at 713-224-0000
The Stephens Law Firm will represent people anywhere in Texas, or across the United States if the case merits it. The communities we have frequently served over the past 22 years include: Houston, Katy, Beaumont, Liberty, Richmond, Rosenberg, Wharton, Corpus-Christi, Waller, Austin, Brownsville, McAllen, Dallas, and San Antonio. We have extensive experience in the County and District Courts of Harris County, Ft Bend County, Nueces County, Wharton County, Bexar County, Liberty County, and Jefferson County.
[ Back to top ]
Home | About | Practice | Recoveries | News | Questions | Contact | Sitemap