Jury holds Reynolds liable for $25 million

Source from:  Winston-Salem (NC) Journal 04/24/2015

A Florida jury voted Tuesday to make R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. liable for $25 million in punitive damages in a case involving Thomas and Bettye Ryan. The amount was $3.5 million requested by the plaintiffs.

The verdict came four days after the jury awarded $21.5 million in compensatory damages, according to the CVN website.

Reynolds declined to comment Wednesday on the jury verdicts.

Engle progeny lawsuits sprang from a decision in 2006 by the Florida Supreme Court that decertified a $145 billion class-action lawsuit initially filed by Howard Engle. That ruling limited former class members to filing individual lawsuits stating that cigarettes caused their respective illnesses.

The most current total for all Engle jury verdicts has at least 88 finding for the plaintiff and at least 41 for the manufacturers. Many of those verdicts against the manufacturers are under appeal. Enditem