"Lots of zeros." That was a Florida judge's response after a jury ordered Big Tobacco to pay nearly $145 billion in punitive damages Friday to Florida smokers who said cigarettes made them sick. The five companies had said such a verdict would amount to a "death warrant." Their attorneys said the companies could afford to pay only $150 million to $375 million. The same jury, in the first class-action lawsuit to go to trial last year, decided that tobacco companies make a deadly product, and in April ordered the industry to pay compensatory damages. The smokers wanted a $196 billion punishment against the industry for making a product that kills 430,000 Americans each year and for misleading the public about the connection between smoking and cancer. "There is no incentive to settle," a Phillip Morris attorney declared after the judge read the verdict. The companies have vowed to appeal.
Up In Smoke
"Lots of zeros." That was a Florida judge's response after a jury ordered Big Tobacco to pay nearly $145 billion in punitive damages Friday to Florida smokers who said cigarettes made them sick. The five companies had said such a verdict would amount to a "death warrant." Their attorneys said the companies could afford to pay only $150 million to $375 million. The same jury, in the first class-action lawsuit to go to trial last year, decided that tobacco companies make a deadly product, and in April ordered the industry to pay compensatory damages. The smokers wanted a $196 billion punishment against the industry for making a product that kills 430,000 Americans each year and for misleading the public about the connection between smoking and cancer. "There is no incentive to settle," a Phillip Morris attorney declared after the judge read the verdict. The companies have vowed to appeal.
