RJ Reynolds Burned with $23B Punitive Damages in Smoker Death Lawsuit

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A Florida jury has returned an unprecedented $23 billion verdict against tobacco giant RJ Reynolds in a wrongful death lawsuit that was formerly part of the Engle class action lawsuit.

Plaintiff Cynthia Robinson filed the wrongful death lawsuit against R.J. Reynolds on behalf of her deceased husband in 2008, claiming the company concealed the addictive nature of cigarettes and conspired to conceal the dangers of smoking.

Robinson’s late husband, Michael Johnson, died of lung cancer in 1996 when he was only 36 years old, the wrongful death lawsuit said. He reportedly smoked one to three packs of cigarettes per day since he was 13.

The Florida jury returned the verdict following a four-week trial and 11 hours of deliberations. The verdict includes compensatory damages of $7.3 million for Robinson and the couple’s child, and an award of $9.6 million to Johnson’s child from a previous relationship. After an additional seven hours of deliberations, the jury awarded Robinson $23.6 billion in punitive damages. Punitive damages are intended to penalize companies for their conduct while compensatory damages are meant to pay victims for the actual losses they’ve suffered.

R.J. Reynolds has indicated that it intends to appeal the verdict, arguing that it is “grossly excessive and impermissible under state and constitutional law.”

Robinson’s wrongful death lawsuit was initially part of the famous Engle v. Liggett Group Inc. class action lawsuit that was filed against the major tobacco companies back in 1994.

In 2000, the Engle class action lawsuit jury awarded plaintiffs $145 billion in punitive damages, which was the largest punitive damages award in U.S. history at that time. However, the award was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court. The high court agreed with a lower court that, because the Class Members smoked for a variety of reasons, certification of the Engle class action lawsuit was not appropriate.

Although the Florida Supreme Court decertified the Engle class action lawsuit, the state’s high court ruled that the plaintiffs could file individual lawsuits against the tobacco companies. Significantly, the court also ruled that the Engle jury’s findings that cigarettes are dangerous and that the tobacco companies were negligent did not need to be re-litigated in future tobacco lawsuits.

Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court refused a request made by tobacco companies, including RJ Reynolds, Philip Morris USA and Lorillard Tobacco Co., to reevaluate the Engle class action lawsuit ruling. The tobacco giants argued that the Engle decision violated their due process rights by allowing the plaintiffs to use the jury’s findings in their individual personal injury lawsuits.

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s refusal to reevaluate the Engle ruling, R.J. Reynolds was hit with a $20 million verdict after a Florida jury determined the company was responsible for the death of a lifelong smoker.

The R.J. Reynolds Wrongful Death Lawsuit is Cynthia Robinson v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., et al., Case No. 2008 CA 000098, in the Circuit Court of the First Judicial Circuit in and for Escambia County, Florida.