San Francisco Tobacco Verdict: $2.5 Million; Punitives Yet to Be Decided

In 2000, Leonard and Leslie Whiteley recovered a verdict of $1.7 million in compensatory damages and $20 million in punitive damages against R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris in San Francisco Superior Court.  Ms. Whitely (whose smoking-related injuries were the basis of the case) died in the summer of 2000.  In 2004, the Court of Appeal took the verdict away, holding that the California immunity in effect for tobacco companies between 1988 and 1998 meant that no evidence of conduct during that ten year period was admissible to prove fraud by the tobacco companies.  Whiteley v. Philip Morris Inc. (2004) 117 Cal.App.4th 635.

The case has just been retried.  A new jury has awarded Mr. Whitely about $2.5 million in compensatory damages and found that R.J. Reynolds acted with malice.  The jury will shortly be considering whether to award punitive damages against Reynolds, and if so, how much.  Further report here at Law.com.