Big Tobacco Loses One, Sort Of

Jesse Williams died in 1997, having smoked for 40 years.  Ms. Williams sued Philip Morris, claiming fraud for misleading smokers into believing smoking was not harmful.

An Oregon jury awarded Ms. Williams a $79.5 million verdict in 1999.  The case was appealed to the Supreme Court in 2003 and 2007, which set aside the verdict and ordered reconsideration.  The 2007 verdict held that punitive damages could not be awarded to anyone other than the plaintiff.

This year the case came before the court again and the award was upheld.  The verdict has grown to $145 with interest.

Here’s where the fun really starts.  Forgetting for the moment that the suit has been in the courts for at least 12 years, a Philip Morris spokesperson brings up the following:

Oregon state law requires 60% of any punitive damages be paid to the state, and that Oregon was party to an agreement precluding it from collecting any punitive damages from the company.

“If Philip Morris USA prevails, the company would be obligated to pay only the remaining 40% of the punitive damages awarded to the plaintiff in this case.”

The only thing yet to be determined is how much will be paid to the lawyers.  I’m not sure we even want to know that amout.