A US court has ordered the country's second
largest cigarette company to pay $23.6 billion
(£13.8bn) to the wife of a smoker who died of
lung cancer.
RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company was hit with the
punitive fine in addition to $16.8m (£9.8m) in
compensatory damages.
Cynthia Robinson took action against the firm in
2008, seeking compensation for her husband's
death in 1996.
A company official said the verdict was ``grossly
excessive and impermissible under state and
constitutional law.''
During the four-week trial, lawyers for Ms
Robinson argued that RJ Reynolds was negligent
in informing consumers of the dangers of
consuming tobacco.
This negligence, the lawyers said, led to her
husband Michael Johnson Sr contracting lung
cancer from smoking after becoming "addicted"
and failing multiple attempts to quit.
'A message for tobacco firms'
"RJ Reynolds took a calculated risk by
manufacturing cigarettes and selling them to
consumers without properly informing them of
the hazards," Ms Robinson's lawyer Willie Gary
said.
"We hope that this verdict will send a message
to RJ Reynolds and other big tobacco companies
that will force them to stop putting the lives of
innocent people in jeopardy," he added.
RJ Reynolds plans to appeal against the court's
decision, vice president and assistant general
counsel Jeffery Raborn said in a statement.
"This verdict goes far beyond the realm of
reasonableness and fairness, and is completely
inconsistent with the evidence presented," he
said.
``We plan to file post-trial motions with the
trial court promptly, and are confident that the
court will follow the law and not allow this
runaway verdict to stand.''
The punitive damages awarded to Ms Robinson
were said to be the largest of any individual
case stemming from a class action lawsuit filed
in Florida.
Several similar cases have resulted in smaller
payouts after the state's highest court ruled
that smokers and their families only had to
prove addiction and that smoking caused their
illness.

This is too much ooo. . . Imagine this kind jackpot for naija. Ur ordinary aboki go don hammer be dat o

Your sauce..

Source:
www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-28389273

Wait o, yu mean say dem go pay her $23.6b now abi wetin?

The husband died of lung cancer. But this judgement might get her killed by heart attack.

Hmmm. 4 weeks trial. $23 billion compensation. Hmmmm.