Thursday, September 10, 2015

Tobacco Cos. Hit With $6M Verdict In Cancer Death Suit - Law360

Tobacco Cos. Hit With $6M Verdict In Cancer Death Suit - Law360

Law360, Los Angeles (September 10, 2015, 2:43 PM ET) -- A Florida jury on Thursday awarded $6 million in compensatory damages to the family of a smoker who died of lung cancer, also finding that R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Philip Morris USA Inc. hid the dangers of smoking and should pay punitive damages.

The jury's decision in St. Petersburg, Florida, found Philip Morris 37 percent responsible for Douglas Duignan's lung cancer and death. R.J. Reynolds bears 30 percent of the blame, and Duignan himself is 33 percent responsible, jurors found.


James Gustafson of Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley PAargues in the case Duignan v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Friday, Sept. 9, 2015. Video from the Courtroom View Network.

The verdict was far less than the $20 million in compensatory damages that the plaintiffs had asked for, but sets off a punitive phase of the trial that could force the tobacco companies to pay millions more.

During closing arguments earlier this week, the Duignan family's attorney, Gary Paige of Gordon & Doner PA, told jurors that Duignan's death in 1992 devastated his widow, Martha Duignan. She was a widow at age 39 and hasn't remarried, Paige said.

"To Martha, that was the love of her life," he said. "She had one love in her life and she loved him. ... It ruined Martha's life."

He urged jurors to award $12 million to Martha Duignan and $4 million to each of the couple's two children. He also urged jurors to find Philip Morris 60 percent responsible, R.J. Reynolds 30 percent responsible and Duignan himself 10 percent responsible. Paige also argued that the tobacco companies should face punitive damages.

Jurors ultimately awarded $4 million to Martha Duignan and $1 million to each of Duignan's children.

Philip Morris attorney Paul Ware of Goodwin Procter LLP told the jury during closing arguments that Duignan wasn’t fooled by their refusal to acknowledge cigarettes cause disease because he had long known smoking was dangerous, sometimes calling them "cancer sticks." In addition, they argued that his lung cancer may not have begun in his lungs.

Ware said Duignan’s relatives described him as a “man’s man” who did what he wanted.

“Are we really to believe that he could not even quit on a single occasion over the next 20 years for more than 48 hours?” he said.

R.J. Reynolds attorney Jack Williams of Jones Day said R.J. Reynolds made some bad decisions in the past, but punitive damages won't be necessary to discourage similar conduct in the future because it has already stopped.


Jack Williams of Jones Day argues in the case Duignan v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Friday, Sept. 9, 2015. Video from the Courtroom View Network.

The case is one of the thousands stemming from the landmark Engle class action against tobacco companies, which the Florida Supreme Court decertified in 2006.

Though the state high court decertified the class and overturned a $145 billion verdict, the court allowed up to 700,000 people who could have won judgments to rely on the jury's findings to file suits of their own. These findings include conclusions that smoking causes certain diseases and that tobacco companies hid smoking's dangers.

The plaintiffs are represented by Gary Paige of Gordon & Doner PA and James Gustafson of Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley PA.

Philip Morris is represented by Paul Ware of Goodwin Procter LLP.

R.J. Reynolds is represented by Jack Williams of Jones Day.

The case is Duignan v. R.J. Reynolds, case number 13-010978-CI, in the Sixth Judicial Circuit of Florida.

--Editing by Patricia K. Cole.

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