Posted on Thursday, November 18th, 2010 at 11:41 am
A Florida woman was awarded $80 million verdict in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against a tobacco company on behalf of her deceased father.
Dianne Webb filed a wrongful death lawsuit against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in Bronson, Florida in 1997. A verdict was returned Tuesday in favor of the plaintiff. R.J. Reynolds was ordered to pay $8 million in compensatory damages and $72 million in punitive damages.
Webb filed the lawsuit on behalf of her father, James Cayce Horner, who died in 1996. Horner apparently smoked two packs of cigarettes a day for more than 60 years. The lawsuit claimed his smoking addiction was fueled by Reynolds’ manipulation and deception. The jury found R.J. Reynolds to be 90 percent responsible in Horner’s death.
Attorney James Gustafson, who represented Webb, said the ruling was a “historic” one. “This jury obviously rejected the decades-old deceit of the corporate liar,” Gustafson said. “[Jurors] acknowledged that R.J. Reynolds choices were motivated by nothing but unbridled greed.”
If you have lost a loved one due to the reckless actions of another party, you may be entitled to compensation. For more information, please contact the Oklahoma wrongful death attorney of the Abel Law Firm, by calling 1-800-739-ABEL.
