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Springfield, MA— A Massachusetts jury last week handed down a $12 million verdict against Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds for the role they found the tobacco companies played in a long-time smoker’s cancer death. Perez-Trinidad v. R.J. Reynolds, et al., 2179-CV-00365.
The Hampden County (Massachusetts) Superior Court jury found the two companies liable on fraud and conspiracy claims related to the 2019 lung cancer death of Israel Trinidad, 55, who had smoked their cigarettes for years.
Last Friday’s award includes $1 million in compensatory damages and $11 million in punitives, with each company responsible for half of that punitive amount.
However, jurors cleared the companies on defective design and other claims, and completely cleared convenience store chain Cumberland Farms, which had sold cigarettes to Trinidad.
Trinidad began smoking as a teenager in the 1970s and continued for much of his life. His wife, Zulma Perez-Trinidad, contends the tobacco companies are responsible for his fatal lung cancer by working to conceal the dangers of smoking throughout much of the latter half of the 20th century.
The four-week trial turned in part on what drove Trinidad’s smoking decisions. During closings last week, Jones Day’s Jason Keehfus, representing R.J. Reynolds, pointed to evidence that Trinidad was warned throughout his life about the dangers of smoking, by sources ranging from cigarette packs to family members.
“And what did he do with these warnings? He acknowledged them,” Keehfus said. “He acknowledged that he knew the dangers, and he chose to continue smoking, because that’s what he liked to do. And that’s what he wanted to do.”
Shook Hardy & Bacon’s William Geraghty, representing Philip Morris, noted that Trinidad’s wife said her husband began smoking the company’s "Marlboro" brand because of the “Marlboro man” ads, featuring cowboys on horseback. But Geraghty told jurors the only health information on those ads was the Surgeon General’s warning about the dangers of smoking.
“The fact that these ads may have made smoking appealing is not fraud,” Geraghty said. “And these ads cannot support a fraud or conspiracy claim.”
But Gordon & Partners’ Gary Paige, representing Trinidad’s wife, argued Reynolds and Philip Morris knew the dangers and addictive nature of smoking, yet worked for decades to undermine science showing the health effects of cigarettes.
Paige pointed to evidence he said showed the companies worked in concert on initiatives designed to cast doubt on smoking's risks, while marketing smoking with messaging designed to hook young adults to their products.
“They knew the harm that was being done,” Paige said. “They knew about addiction and they knew that profits were more important to them.”
Email Arlin Crisco at acrisco@cvn.com.
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