Individual Secondhand Smoke Suits Filed

Anti-tobacco lawyers filed a first wave of 300 individual secondhand smoke lawsuits flowing from a landmark $350-million settlement of a class action brought by sick flight attendants. Brought on behalf of a flight attendant and other nonsmokers who blame emphysema and other ailments on fumes from passengers’ cigarettes, the suits should come to trial within a year, Miami plaintiffs’ lawyer Steven Hunter said. No specific cash damages were claimed in the suits, which seek compensation for lost wages, medical expenses, and pain and suffering. The cigarette makers are sheltered from possibly crippling punitive damages under the 1997 settlement. Individual plaintiffs received no money from the settlement, but each can sue separately for damages.