US: Florida Court Rejects USD 16.8 Million Engle Award

Source from:  Tobacco Journal International  05/14/2013

A Florida appeals court overturned a USD 16.8 million (EUR 12.9 million) award, including USD 10.8 million in punitive damages against RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co and Philip Morris USA, saying a lower court incorrectly applied Engle class-action criteria, court documents show.

The court of appeal ruled the lower court judgement "reflects a critical misunderstanding" of guidelines issued by the state supreme court when the high court threw out a landmark class-action suit bearing the name of deceased Florida smoker Howard Engle. The lower court misunderstanding resulted in fundamentally flawed instructions to the jury, the appeals court said.

Engle guidelines allow individuals to make use of class-action findings when filing individual claims against tobacco companies.

Philip Morris USA Inc & RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co v. Andy R. Allen Sr., 1D11-6061, was heard before the Florida First District Court of Appeal. Enditem