Appeals court decertifies tobacco class action

On May 6th, Reuters reported that a New York appeals court decertified a tobacco class action suit.

The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a 2002 ruling that “had established the nationwide class for smokers to seek punitive damages from the tobacco industry for denying and concealing the health risks associated with tobacco.”

Even some foes of the tobacco industry opposed setting up a class certification in the case, saying that it would have stopped individual plaintiffs from receiving punitive damages in individual lawsuits, leading lawyers who receive a percentage of damages awarded to decline taking the cases.

“The problem from our point of view with the class certification is that it had the effect of stripping punitive damages out of every individual case and therefore making it more difficult and unlikely for plaintiff’s lawyers to bring these cases,” said Richard Daynard, a Northeastern University law professor who filed a brief for public interest groups urging the decertification.

Defendants in the case included “Altria Group Inc., Reynolds American Inc.’s, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and Brown & Williamson units, Vector Group Ltd.’s Liggett unit and Loews Corp.’s Lorillard unit.”