PM USA to Challenge Verdict in Engle Case

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 08/23/2010

Philip Morris USA said yesterday it would seek further review of a jury verdict in a Palm Beach County case that awarded $4 million in compensatory damages against the defendants and $90,000 in punitive damages against PM USA. Because the jury allocated 47 per cent of the fault to the plaintiff, 27.5 per cent to RJ Reynolds and the remainder to PM USA, PM USA's share of the compensatory damages is expected to be $1.1 million. The verdict came at the end of a six-week trial of a so-called Engle progeny case (Piendle v. RJ Reynolds and Philip Morris USA) following a 2006 Florida Supreme Court decision that decertified a class action but allowed former class members to file individual lawsuits. "Although we do not believe that any punitive damages award would be appropriate, we are pleased that the jury rejected the plaintiff's calls for a punitive damages award in the millions of dollars," said Murray Garnick, Altria Client Services senior vice president and associate general counsel, speaking on behalf of PM USA. "We believe the entire verdict nonetheless should be reversed because it is the direct result of numerous errors by the district court, including the court's rulings eliminating any requirement that this plaintiff prove that the company did anything wrong that caused her injury." "This verdict and the plaintiffs' verdicts in other recent Florida cases all violate Florida law and due process by allowing juries to rely on general findings by a prior jury that are totally unrelated to these particular plaintiffs," said Garnick. "A federal appeals court and several federal district courts have found that the trial plans used in these cases would violate Florida law and basic constitutional rights." About 4,000 claims, or roughly half of those filed in the wake of the Florida Supreme Court's decision in Engle, are pending in federal court. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals severely restricted the ability of plaintiffs in the federal cases to use findings from the prior Engle jury to meet their burden of proof at trial, Altria noted in a note posted on its website. Neither the plaintiff here nor any of the other plaintiffs in state courts have complied with the requirements set forth by this ruling, the note added. Enditem