Judge Reduces Award in Tobacco Case
A federal judge has eliminated $15 million in punitive damages that a tobacco company was ordered to pay the family of a smoker.
U.S. District Judge James Moody signed an order granting a request by Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co. to nullify punitive damages awarded in May for the death of Mary Jane Boerner.
Moody also upheld the compensatory damages award of $4.25 million in the Arkansas case.
Brown & Williamson had sought the order primarily on grounds that it was liable only for compensatory damages since it had simply acquired American Tobacco Co., which made the brands that Boerner smoked.
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