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July 21, 2014

Smoker's Widow Wins $23.6 Billion in Punitive Damages from R.J. Reynolds 
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A jury in Florida has ordered the second largest cigarette maker in the
United States to pay $23.6 billion in punitive damages to the widow of a
smoker who died from lung cancer. Cynthia Robinson's husband died in
1996 at the age of 36. The jury found the firm R.J. Reynolds had
concealed the harms of smoking. Willie Gary, an attorney for Cynthia
Robinson, celebrated the verdict.

Willie Gary: "This verdict is clearly — it's going to send a
message to the big tobacco companies, and not only to the tobacco
companies, but to all of those companies that feel that, for whatever
reason, profits come before people and safety. And that's just not the
case."

R.J. Reynolds has vowed to appeal. Last week its parent company,
Reynolds American, agreed to buy rival tobacco giant Lorillard in a $25
billion deal.

 

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