Smoking award against Philip Morris reversed
Altria Group Inc.'s Philip Morris USA won reversal of a $2 million Florida jury award in a wrongful-death case filed by the widower of a smoker who died of lung cancer.
The trial court erred in denying Philip Morris USA's request to bar the claim because the lawsuit was filed too late, the Florida District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach said in a ruling Wednesday.
The lawsuit was filed in December 2007 by the estate of Shirley Barbanell, who died of lung cancer in April 1996 at age 73. Evidence demonstrated at a trial that Barbanell was aware before May 1990 that cigarette smoking had caused serious problems with her health, the appeals panel wrote.
The Florida Supreme Court in 2006 threw out a $145 billion punitive-damage verdict against the industry and ended a class action filed on behalf of the state's smokers. The ruling, which permitted smokers to sue individually, is known as the "Engle" decision, after Howard Engle, the lead plaintiff in the case.
The Barbanell case is the first "Engle" claim to be overturned by an appeals court, Philip Morris said in a statement. The jury had awarded damages of $5.34 million, holding Barbanell about 64 percent responsible, which reduced the damages to $2 million.
"This is an important decision that could impact many of the claims being brought in the Engle cases," Murray Garnick, a lawyer for Henrico County-based Altria, said in the statement.
Chesapeake residents file $2B fly-ash lawsuit
A group of Chesapeake residents has filed a $2 billion lawsuit against the owners of Battlefield Golf Club at Centreville and Dominion Virginia Power, claiming that the toxic fly ash on which the course was built contaminated the area's well water and harmed several people.
Lawyers representing nearly 400 people living near the club filed the suit Tuesday. A previous lawsuit was dropped after a judge ruled that the plaintiffs had not provided enough evidence in the case.
The latest complaint includes new evidence showing elevated toxin levels in well-water testing. It also specifically claims that nine children and one adult were harmed by the fly ash, a byproduct of burning coal.
A Dominion spokesman declined to comment.
Jury awards $4.5M to ex-railroad worker
A Roanoke jury has awarded $4.5 million to a former Norfolk Southern Corp. employee who became disabled after tripping on a crosstie along tracks at the local terminal.
Former conductor and brakeman Welsh Davis tore a tendon in his ankle after tripping while working in 2008. His attorney argued that weeds that had grown around the tie obstructed Davis' view and created an unsafe workplace. The injury left him unable to work and in almost constant pain.
From staff and wire reports
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