Good news on top of good news.
Theo
Friday June 25, 7:31 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Philip Morris and R. J. Reynolds Laud Geiger Decision
Class-Action Case Should Guide Other Courts
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 25, 1999--Today's decision by a Queens, N.Y., court rejecting class certification in the closely watched Geiger case is consistent with the facts and the law, and Philip Morris U.S.A. and R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company expect it will be followed across the country where similar cases are pending.
Plaintiffs in the case had sought class certification for New York state residents who were alleged to have contracted lung and throat cancer as a result of cigarette smoking.
''At best for the plaintiffs in this type of tobacco case, the application for class certification was brought in the wrong action at the wrong time,'' the court said in its 29-page opinion.
The decision is important because it shows, once again, that courts recognize that a class action by smokers claiming damages for alleged injuries should not be certified. The ruling follows numerous decisions by state and federal courts in tobacco cases, as well as a 1997 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Amchem case.
''The decision in Geiger is eminently sensible, and it should show the way for other courts still considering class-action treatment in these actions,'' said Hugh Whiting, attorney for R. J. Reynolds, one of the tobacco defendants in the case.
The tobacco company defendants had urged the New York court to follow the landmark 1996 Castano ruling by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals as well as other federal and state court decisions because certifying massive class actions such as these could easily overwhelm court systems.
''These cases, after all, are truly individual in nature. This is true because everyone, every smoker is unique and all of these claims simply cannot be resolved in a single case or a single trial,'' said John J. Mulderig, associate general counsel for Philip Morris. |
