Lorillard to Appeal Cigarette Sampling Verdict

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 12/16/2010

A jury in Massachusetts, US, has awarded compensatory damages of $71 million against Lorillard Tobacco for having tried to entice black children to become smokers by handing out free cigarettes, according to a story in The Huffington Post. The Suffolk Superior Court jury announced its verdict Tuesday after hearing weeks of testimony. Willie Evans alleged Lorillard introduced his mother, Marie Evans, to smoking as a child in the late 1950s by giving her free Newport cigarettes at the Orchard Park housing project in Boston, where she lived. He said his mother smoked for more than 40 years before dying of lung cancer at age 54. The jury awarded Marie Evans' estate $50 million in compensatory damages and gave her son $21 million. A hearing on possible punitive damages is set for Thursday. Lorillard has said it will appeal. "Lorillard respectfully disagrees with the jury's verdict and denies the plaintiff's claim that the company sampled to children or adults at Orchard Park in the early 1960's," said Gregg Perry, a spokesman for Lorillard in a statement posted on the company's website. "The plaintiff's 50-year-old memories were persuasively contradicted by testimony from several witnesses. "The company will appeal and is confident it will prevail once the Massachusetts Court of Appeals reviews this case." Enditem