Appeals Court Bars Class Action Against Makers of Light Cigarettes
A federal appeals court has tossed an $800 billion class-action lawsuit against the makers of light cigarettes.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said questions of whether plaintiffs relied on marketing that promoted light cigarettes as a safer alternative could not be resolved in a class action, the New York Law Journal reports.
The court said it is wrong to conclude that the plaintiffs relied on tobacco advertising without individual proof. It is impossible to know if the plaintiffs relied on the marketing or had other reasons for smoking light cigarettes, the court said, and they will have to sue individually, the New York Times reports.
“Proof of misrepresentation—even widespread and uniform misrepresentation—only satisfies half the equation; the other half, reliance on the misrepresentation, cannot be the subject of general proof,” Judge John Walker Jr. wrote for the New York City-based court.
The decision overturned a decision by U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein, who had certified the suit as a class action under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
The appeals court said Weinstein improperly used a “fraud on the market” theory, usually used in securities cases, which holds that fraud can be established through widespread dissemination of misleading information.
“While redressing injuries caused by the cigarette industry is ‘one of the most troubling … problems facing our nation today’ … not every wrong can have a legal remedy … at least not without causing collateral damage to the fabric of our laws,” the appeals court said.
A number of light cigarette suits have been filed in state courts around the country; most have seen little success, the Times story says. A pending U.S. Supreme Court case asks whether lawsuits against the makers of light cigarettes are pre-empted by a Federal Trade Commission decision allowing marketing of such products.
