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Mealey's Tobacco

  • November 30, 2018

    Maryland Panel OKs Bill Requiring Midnight Close Of Hookah Bars

    BALTIMORE — The Maryland Court of Special Appeals on Nov. 28 rejected a challenge to a Baltimore County Council bill that restricts the hours of operation for hookah lounges, finding instead that the regulation is constitutional (Irvin M. Baddock, et al. v. Baltimore County, Maryland, No. No. 1271, Md. Ct. Special App., 2018 Md. App. LEXIS 1091).

  • November 30, 2018

    Tobacco Companies Urge Supreme Court To Take On Due Process Challenge

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a Nov. 19 petition for certiorari, two tobacco companies assert that the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals erred in upholding the Florida Supreme Court’s mandate that courts must give preclusive effect to the concealment and conspiracy findings of Engle v. Liggett Grp., Inc. in cases that qualify as Engle progeny (R.J. Reynolds et al., v. Cheryl Searcy, No. 18-649, U.S. Sup.).

  • November 28, 2018

    $20M Punitive Damage Award In Favor Of Tobacco Plaintiff Reinstated

    ATLANTA — In a Nov. 26 holding, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a Florida federal judge’s grant of judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) on behalf of Philip Morris USA Inc. on a former smoker’s intentional tort claims and directed the trial court to reinstate a jury’s $20 million punitive damage award on her behalf (Bernard Cote v. Philip Morris USA Inc., Nos. 15-15633, 16-15957, 11th Cir., 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 33138).

  • November 27, 2018

    9th Circuit Upholds Sanction Against Attorney For Tobacco Plaintiff

    SAN FRANCISCO — The due process rights of an attorney representing a lung cancer sufferer were not violated by a California federal judge who imposed a $1,500 sanction in connection with misconduct by the attorney during a 2016 trial, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Nov. 16 (Nikki Pooshs and Gilbert L. Purcell v. Philip Morris USA Inc., et al., No. 16-15429, 9th Cir., 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 32507).

  • November 27, 2018

    Florida Jury Returns Verdict In Favor Of Engle Progeny Plaintiff

    MIAMI — On Nov. 26, a jury empaneled before Judge Antonio Arzola of the 11th Judicial Circuit Court for Dade County awarded a former smoker $2.25 million in punitive damages following Phase II of an Engle progeny case (Paul Rouse v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., No. 2017CA017202,11th Jud. Cir., Dade Co.).

  • November 19, 2018

    Lung Cancer Victim Responsible For Illness, Jurors In Florida Find

    ORLANDO, Fla. — In a verdict rendered Nov. 15, a Florida jury sided with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. on allegations that the cigarette maker bears legal responsibility for the lung cancer death of a Florida man (Stephanie Hochreiter v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., No. 2015CA003926, 9th Jud. Cir., Orange Co.). VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.

  • November 15, 2018

    Appellate Court Reverses Dismissal For Failure To Prosecute In Engle Case

    LAKELAND, Fla. — In a Nov. 14 ruling, a divided Second District Florida Court of Appeal found that a trial court’s dismissal of a tobacco plaintiff’s case for lack of prosecution must be reversed and remanded for further proceedings because the dismissal was not preceded by an evidentiary hearing to address disputed issues of fact (Estella Purdue v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., No. 2D18-0333, Fla. App., 2nd Dist., 2018 Fla. App. LEXIS 16261).

  • November 14, 2018

    Florida Appeals Court Directs Trial Court To Reinstate Tobacco Verdict

    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — In an Oct. 7 opinion, the Fourth District Florida Court of Appeal affirmed a $20 million award of compensatory and punitive damages on behalf of the daughter of a smoker, in accordance with a mandate by the Florida Supreme Court (Gwendolyn E. Odom v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., No. 4D14-3867, Fla. App., 4th Dist., 2018 Fla. App. LEXIS 15921).

  • November 14, 2018

    Parties Brief Rehearing Motion In Florida Top Court’s Rejection Of Daubert

    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Despite Crane Co.’s protestations to the contrary, Florida’s Supreme Court adopted the Frye standard and, rather than overlook the issue of whether nonparty defendants should have appeared on an asbestos verdict sheet, simply declined to address the question, a plaintiff told the court on Nov. 9.  R.J. Reynolds argues in its petition for rehearing that the court’s ruling threatens to stoke a battle over the separation of powers between the branches of Florida government (Richard DeLisle v. Crane Co., et al., No. SC16-2182, Fla. Sup.).

  • November 9, 2018

    Divided Florida Panel: Tobacco Tax Memo Is Unadopted Rule

    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — In a Nov. 6 ruling, a majority of a First District Florida Court of Appeal panel agreed with a tobacco wrap distributor that a 2016 memorandum issued by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation constitutes an unadopted rule that cannot be enforced (Grabba-Leaf LLC v. Department of Business and Professional Regulation, No. 1D16-4273, Fla. App, 1st Dist., 2018 Fla. App. LEXIS 15780).

  • November 9, 2018

    Florida Federal Jury Again Rejects Claims By Smoker’s Widow

    JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — For the third time, jurors on Nov. 7 sided with the tobacco industry in a longstanding dispute over the lung cancer death of a Florida man (Eddie O. Starbuck v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., et al., No. 09-cv-13250, M.D. Fla.).

  • November 5, 2018

    Rhode Island Superior Court Judge Strikes Down Tobacco Ordinance

    PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A local Rhode Island ordinance that requires stores selling tobacco to obtain a “dealer’s license” and pay an annual $100 fee was rejected as unconstitutional on Oct. 30 by a Rhode Island judge (Sams Food Mart LLC v. Town of Middletown, No. NC-2017-0443, R.I. Super., 2018 R.I. Super. LEXIS 95).

  • November 2, 2018

    Dismissal Of Claim Juul Misrepresents Nicotine Levels Denied In California

    SAN FRANCISCO — In an Oct. 30 holding, a California federal judge found that purported class claims that JUUL Labs Inc. misrepresents the amount of nicotine in its electronic cigarettes are not preempted by the Tobacco Control Act (TCA), 21 U.S.C. § 387 et seq., and may proceed (Bradley Colgate, et al. v. JUUL Labs Inc., No. 18-2499, N.D. Calif., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 185919).

  • November 2, 2018

    Michigan Appellate Panel Reverses Order Affirming Seizure Of Tobacco Product

    DETROIT — A Michigan appellate court in an Oct. 23 unpublished opinion reversed a trial court’s order affirming the Department of Treasury’s seizure and forfeiture of a company’s tobacco product pursuant to the Tobacco Products Tax Act (TPTA), holding that the company should have been allowed to conduct discovery related to the lawfulness of the seizure and forfeiture (Prime Time International Distributing, Inc. v. Department of Treasury, No. 338564, Mich. App., 2018 Mich. App. LEXIS 3379).

  • November 1, 2018

    Florida Federal Judge Seats Jury, Begins Retrial Of Engle Case

    JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A jury was selected on Oct. 29 in a third retrial of allegations that R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Philip Morris USA Inc. bear responsibility for the lung cancer death of a Florida man; the same day, a Florida federal judge issued jurors preliminary instructions in the case (Eddie O. Starbuck v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., et al., No. 09-cv-13250, M.D. Fla.).

  • October 29, 2018

    Denial Of Cert Allows New York To Tax Cigarettes Sold To Non-Indians

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — New York can continue to seek taxes from tribal retailers on cigarettes sold to non-Indians after the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 29 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a Seneca Nation outlet store operator (Eric White, et al. v. Barbara D. Underwood, et al., No. 18-297, U.S. Sup.).

  • October 26, 2018

    Florida Appellate Panel Affirms Defense Verdict In Engle Progeny Suit

    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Florida appellate court on Oct. 18 affirmed a jury verdict in favor of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Philip Morris USA Inc. in a suit in which a man and his wife claimed that the man developed bladder cancer because of his addiction to cigarettes made by the two tobacco companies (Steven Kogan v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., No. 4D17-2256, Fla. App., 4th Dist., 2018 Fla. App. LEXIS 14872).

  • October 25, 2018

    Florida Top Court: Reinstate Full Award For Widow Of Smoker

    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — In an Oct. 23 holding, the Florida Supreme Court granted rehearing in a dispute over an appellate decision that reduced a $5.7 million compensatory damages award in an Engle progeny case to reflect a jury’s determination of comparative fault (Vickie McKeever, etc. v. Philip Morris USA, Inc., No. SC17-198, Fla. Sup.).

  • October 24, 2018

    9th Circuit Won’t Rehear $58 Million Tribal Tobacco Company Tax Case

    SAN FRANCISCO  — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 22 denied rehearing en banc of its affirmance of a Washington federal judge’s determination that a tribal manufacturer of tobacco products located on land held in trust by the United States is not entitled to an exemption from the federal tobacco excise tax (United States v. King Mountain Tobacco Co., Nos. 14-36055, 16-35607, 9th Cir.).

  • October 23, 2018

    Suit Accuses E-Cigarette Maker Of False Marketing And Targeting Youth

    MIAMI — A Florida minor filed a class action suit in Florida federal court on Oct. 10, alleging that a maker of an e-cigarette device engaged in false marketing and promotion of its products to minors in violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUPTA) (J.Y., et al. v. JUUL Labs, Inc., No. 18-14416, S.D. Fla.).