Mealey's Tobacco
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November 03, 2022
Oregon County Appeals Order Blocking Its Flavored Tobacco Ban As Preempted
SALEM, Ore. — An Oregon county is appealing to the Oregon Court of Appeals after a state court judge blocked its countywide ban on sales of flavored tobacco and nicotine products that the judge found preempted by a state law under which only a state agency is authorized to prohibit sales by licensed tobacco stores.
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November 03, 2022
$117M Settlement Of Altria Shareholders’ Claims Gets Judge’s Preliminary Approval
RICHMOND, Va. — Two months after rejecting an earlier proposed settlement for the same dollar amount as “inadequate,” a Virginia federal judge granted an unopposed motion for preliminary approval of a $117 million settlement filed by shareholders in tobacco company Altria Group Inc. to resolve derivative claims that certain Altria officers and directors breached their fiduciary duty by orchestrating a $12.8 billion investment into Juul Labs Inc. (JLI).
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November 01, 2022
North Carolina Judge Dismisses AG’s Suit Against Juul Execs
DURHAM, N.C. — A North Carolina judge dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction a lawsuit filed by the state attorney general accusing Juul Labs Inc. (JLI) co-founders Adam Bowen and James Monsees and three board members of directing the company’s strategy to illegally market its products to youths after finding that the claims are not based on any defendants’ activities in or targeted at the state.
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November 01, 2022
Jury Returns Defense Verdict In Smoker’s Widow’s Suit Against Tobacco Companies
MIAMI — A Florida jury rejected all claims brought in an Engle lawsuit by the widow of a dead smoker who immigrated from Cuba at age 37 and operated a grocery store in Miami, after tobacco companies argued at trial that the smoker’s addiction to cigarettes was developed while he lived in Cuba and wasn’t influenced by any tobacco company statements or advertisements.
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November 01, 2022
Tobacco Companies Move To Set Aside Verdict For Smoker’s Daughter
MIAMI — Two tobacco companies moved in Florida state court to set aside a $2.2 million verdict for compensatory damages issued in an Engle trial in favor of the daughter of a dead smoker, issued by a jury that found the smoker 75% at fault for his own death and divided the remaining fault three ways, arguing that federal conflict preemption and federal labeling regulations preempt her claims.
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October 28, 2022
3rd Circuit Upholds FDA’s Nationwide Ban Of E-Liquids Maker’s Products
PHILADELPHIA — A Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Oct. 27 denied a petition for review of a Food and Drug Administration order denying premarket tobacco applications (PMTAs) filed by a flavored e-liquids maker, ruling that the FDA did not change its standards of review or improperly prohibit the company’s products from the market.
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October 27, 2022
Jury Rejects Late Smoker’s Daughter’s Engle Claims Against Tobacco Companies
QUINCY, Fla. — A Florida jury returned a defense verdict in favor of two tobacco companies in a deceased smoker’s daughter’s wrongful death Engle lawsuit, rejecting her arguments that her father was hopelessly addicted to smoking and had been deceived by the companies’ advertising into continuing smoking filtered and low-tar cigarettes out of the false belief that they were healthier. VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
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October 26, 2022
Smoker’s Husband Urges Florida Supreme Court To Review Attorney Fees Reversal
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A dead smoker’s husband urges the Florida Supreme Court to review a split appellate panel’s reversal of a trial court’s $2.5 million award in his favor for attorney fees, which the panel majority found unreasonable due to concerns of double recovery, arguing that the majority’s ruling wasn’t founded on the challenge a tobacco company raised on appeal.
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October 25, 2022
9th Circuit Allows Juul MDL Defendants’ Appeal Of Class Certification Order
SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals two-judge panel on Oct. 24 in an exercise of discretion granted petitions by Juul Labs Inc. (JLI), Altria Group Inc. and several co-defendants to appeal a judge’s ruling certifying four classes bringing claims for up to $10 billion in damages in the multidistrict litigation against them for deceptive and illegal marketing and sales practices that allegedly targeted youth.
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October 25, 2022
Cigarillo Maker: High Court Should Ignore ‘Illusions’ Of Jurisdictional Split
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A cigarillo maker and its parent company argue in a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court that a rival cigar maker’s petition for a writ of certiorari “should be denied without hesitation,” contending that no circuit split or error of law is involved in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ finding of jurisdiction over the cigarillo companies’ appeal of the vacatur of a $44 million verdict in their favor after they voluntarily dismissed their own claims.
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October 20, 2022
COMMENTARY: Is Today’s Attempt At A Public Nuisance “Super Tort” The Emperor’s New Clothes Of Modern Litigation?
By Philip S. Goldberg
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October 20, 2022
Deceased Smoker’s Daughter Tells Jury He Was Deceived By Tobacco Company Ads
QUINCY, Fla. — A smoker’s daughter told jurors in her wrongful death Engle lawsuit against two tobacco companies that her father was hopelessly addicted to smoking prior to his death and that his addiction deepened while he told family members, based on the companies’ deceptive advertising, that filtered and low-tar cigarettes were healthier for him. VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
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October 19, 2022
U.S. Sues Vape Makers Selling Vapes And E-Liquids Without FDA Approval
The U.S. Department of Justice on Oct. 18 filed six complaints against vape manufacturers in six states that it alleges are illegally manufacturing and selling “adulterated” e-cigarette devices and e-liquids without Food and Drug Administration approval despite repeated warnings from the government.
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October 11, 2022
Investment Group Sues Ex-Pax Employee For Juul Stock Dividends
SAN FRANCISCO — An investment organization filed a complaint in California federal court against a former of employee of Pax Labs, which developed e-cigarette technology before spinning off Juul Labs Inc. as a separate company, contending that he is violating a share purchase agreement by refusing to release $7.4 million in dividends received on his Juul stock after Altria Group Inc. invested $12.8 billion in the company.
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October 10, 2022
Amicus Urges High Court To Hear Cigar Maker’s Challenge Of Appeal ‘Gamesmanship’
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A public interest nonprofit urges the U.S. Supreme Court in an amicus brief to hear a cigar maker’s petition for certiorari challenging what the nonprofit describes as “procedural gamesmanship,” arguing that the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals violated high court precedent by hearing an appeal of the vacatur of a $44 million jury verdict in favor of a rival company after it voluntarily dismissed its own claims.
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October 10, 2022
Split Texas Panel Finds Jurisdiction Over Battery Maker For Vape Explosion
EL PASO, Texas — A split Texas appellate panel reversed a trial court and found jurisdiction over a South Korean battery maker and its U.S. subsidiary for claims brought by a man burned after the batteries in his e-cigarette vape device exploded in his pocket, ruling that the battery companies’ arguments that they did not intend their products to be used in vapes go to the merits and do not preclude jurisdiction.
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October 07, 2022
Small E-Liquid Makers Challenge FDA’s Rule As Unfairly ‘Burdensome’
HOUSTON — A group of small e-liquid makers and a vaping industry association filed a lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration and two officials accusing them of imposing “burdensome” new rules on the companies that will bar them from entering the market.
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October 07, 2022
Judge Remands Smoker’s Suit Against Tobacco Companies, Retailers To Local Court
CHRISTIANSTED, St. Croix — A Virgin Islands federal judge remanded the lawsuit of a smoker with laryngeal cancer against tobacco companies and several local retailers to the Virgin Islands Superior Court, finding that the court cannot determine whether the smoker’s claims are time-barred or whether the defendants waived their statute of limitations defenses without examining the merits.
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October 05, 2022
Vice Chancellor: Cigarette Brands Purchaser Liable Under Florida Settlement
WILMINGTON, Del. — A vice chancellor of the Delaware Chancery Court granted summary judgment in favor of Reynolds American Inc. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (collectively, RJR) and ruled that the “only reasonable” interpretation of its sales agreement with the purchaser of four cigarette brands is that the purchaser is liable for overdue annual state payments to Florida on those brands, currently worth more than $170 million.
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October 04, 2022
Judge Dismisses Securities Complaint Against Chinese Vape Company With Prejudice
NEW YORK — A New York federal judge granted a Chinese vaping company’s motion to dismiss a putative securities class action brought against it by investors who claimed that the company overestimated its financial prospects before its initial public offering (IPO), finding that the plaintiffs failed to show that the company intentionally omitted or misrepresented the Chinese government’s planned regulatory scheme for e-cigarettes.
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October 03, 2022
Dead Smoker’s Son Moves For Attorney Fees After Winning $6M Verdict
TAMPA, Fla. — The son of a smoker who died in 2002 after contracting chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has moved for an award of costs and attorney fees after winning a jury verdict of $6 million in compensatory damages against a tobacco company, writing that costs and fees are merited because the company declined his offer before trial to settle all claims in the case for $375,000.
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September 30, 2022
Suit Against Tobacco Companies And Retailers Remanded To Virgin Islands Court
CHRISTIANSTED, St. Croix — A Virgin Islands federal judge remanded a dead smoker’s wrongful death suit against tobacco companies and several local retailers to the Virgin Islands Superior Court after ruling that the district court lacks jurisdiction to resolve whether the claims against the nondiverse defendants are time-barred or if the retailers waived that defense by not answering the complaint by a court-ordered deadline.
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September 28, 2022
Oregon County’s Ban Of Flavored Tobacco Preempted By State Law, Judge Says
HILLSBORO, Ore. — An Oregon state court judge has ruled that a countywide ban on sales of flavored tobacco and nicotine products is preempted by state law, writing that the county lacks authority to refuse to allow sales by tobacco stores with state authorized sales licenses.
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September 28, 2022
Colorado Supreme Court Says State Court Lacks Jurisdiction Over Juul Executives
DENVER — The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that a trial court lacks jurisdiction to hear consumer protection and public nuisance claims against four California-based executives of e-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc. (JLI) brought by the state attorney general as the executives are not alleged to have purposely directed any activities at the state.
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September 28, 2022
Jury Awards Dead Smoker’s Sons $4.5M For Lung Cancer Death
MIAMI — A Florida jury awarded $4.5 million in compensatory damages to the three sons of a dead smoker against two tobacco companies for causing her addiction to cigarettes and death from lung cancer but found the smoker 80% at fault for causing her own death by continuing to smoke while ignoring health warnings. VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.