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Non-Tech : Philip Morris - A Stock For Wealth Or Poverty (MO) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ralph Bergmann who wrote (1409)	4/16/1998 9:37:00 AM
From: Geoff	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6439

I just read the AP news story about the Fla. lawsuit. I like the judge's interpretation of the class action suit, as well as his reason for dismissing it. Read the AP article below.... ======== Filed at 3:36 a.m. EDT By The Associated Press WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Cigarette makers plan to use a federal judge's dismissal of a lawsuit filed by labor union health funds to fight at least 40 similar suits nationwide. U.S. District Judge Kenneth Ryskamp dismissed the suit brought by the unions that accused the tobacco industry of fraud and racketeering, saying the tobacco industry has become a political "whipping boy." The decision, issued Monday but publicized by tobacco companies Wednesday, was the first lawsuit of its kind to be dismissed, tobacco lawyers said. "This decision is going to be a persuasive authority presented to judges for their consideration in all of the other cases," said Steve Krigbaum, an attorney for Philip Morris Inc. There are motions to dismiss already pending in about 18 of the 40 similar cases in courts nationwide, Krigbaum said. Three local labor unions had accused the tobacco companies of racketeering and misleading the public about the health risks of smoking. They were seeking reimbursement for costs to health care funds spent on treating smoking-related illnesses. But Ryskamp said the unions' claims were too remote to even meet the "exceedingly low" threshold to survive cigarette maker's request for a dismissal. "The tobacco industry has, as of late, become the whipping boy of American political discourse," Ryskamp wrote. "The fact that the tobacco industry has recently become very unpopular, however, is insufficient ground for this court to overturn well-established common law rules." The lawsuit sought to become a class action representing all labor union health care funds in Florida. John Broaddus, a partner in a Washington firm that has filed most of the union cases, said he could not comment because he had not seen the ruling. Attorneys for the Southeast Florida Laborers District Counsel Health and Welfare Trust Fund, the main plaintiff, had hoped the federal judge would extend the 1994 Florida law allowing the state to sue the industry to recover smoking-related Medicaid costs to cover the local union as well. Florida used the law to help win a $11 billion settlement from the tobacco industry in August.