Here’s the latest verdict in the on-going series of post-Engle tobacco trials in Florida. The Palm Beach Post reports that a jury in West Palm Beach has awarded $14 million in punitive damages against R.J. Reynolds, in a lawsuit brought by the daughter of a smoker who died of lung cancer.
The wide range of results in this cases is a stark illustration of the inherently arbitrary nature of punitive damages. The plaintiffs’ arguments for punitive damages in these cases are practically identical. Many of the juries hearing these arguments have awarded no punitive damages, while other juries have awarded tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars.
Related posts:
Florida jury awards smoker’s family $22.5M in punitive damages
Florida appellate court reverses $79 million judgment in tobacco case
Florida appellate court reverses $40 million punitive damages award in tobacco case
Philip Morris wins sixth straight trial in Florida smoker litigation
Florida jury awards relatively modest punitive damages in smoker lawsuit
Another punitive damages award in Florida tobacco litigation
Florida jury awards $20 million in punitive damages to smoker’s widow
Smoker’s widow wins $12.5 million in punitive damages
Florida trial judge cuts $244 million punitive damages award
Florida jury awards $25 million in punitive damages to smoker’s widow
