Smokers Fight For Class Action
Plaintiffs’ attorneys asked an appeals court Tuesday not to exclude millions of smokers from a landmark lawsuit, arguing that it would delay for years a decision on whether tobacco companies deliberately hid knowledge that nicotine is addictive.
But Kenneth Starr, an attorney for the cigarette manufacturers, told the panel that smokers’ cases should be tried separately because different circumstances are involved with each plaintiff.
A class-action suit is proper only if the findings apply equally to all plaintiffs, he argued.
If the lawsuit remains a class action, millions of smokers could stand to collect damages from the industry, which has never lost a smoking-related lawsuit.
U.S. District Judge Okla Jones certified the lawsuit as a class action last year to represent all nicotine-dependent smokers and their surviving family members.
Under Jones’ plan, one jury would determine whether the industry knew nicotine was addictive, whether it covered up that knowledge and whether it manipulated nicotine levels in cigarettes to keep smokers hooked.
The question of whether an individual smoker is entitled to damages could be sent to other courts.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which will decide only whether to keep the lawsuit a class action, has not indicated on when it will rule.
The lawsuit was filed in 1994.