Tobacco Firms Lose Rulings Before Trial

On the first day of jury selection in the case of 60,000 nonsmoking flight attendants vs. Big Tobacco, Dade Circuit Judge Robert Kaye dashed the industry’s last hope of taming the trial.

In orders released Monday morning, Kaye denied motions to break up the class and to strike punitive damages.

Also, the Miami judge refused to rule that the tobacco industry did not conspire to misrepresent the dangers of smoking or secondhand smoke.

That’s debatable and for a jury to decide, Kaye’s three-paragraph order said.

“So we will go with a full-blown trial,” announced court spokesman Mort Lucoff.

Just how full-blown started to become apparent on Monday.

Kaye’s ruling took the flight attendants’ multibillion-dollar claim for punitive damages beyond pie-in-the-sky. If six jurors decide the industry should be held responsible for diseases from secondhand smoke, now they also will decide whether to punish it with a whopping financial penalty.

Reacting to the rulings, tobacco stock prices edged down on the New York Stock Exchange.