Panel Backs Ex-TWA Attendant in Smoke Case
A Florida appeals court upheld a $500,000 award to a flight attendant who blamed secondhand smoke on planes for her bronchitis and sinus disease in a decision that could clear the way for damage trials on up to 3,000 similar claims.
The ruling by a three-judge panel for former TWA attendant Lynn French was a test case interpreting a $349-million settlement reached in 1997 between the tobacco industry and nonsmoking attendants. The pact resolved claims blaming illnesses on exposure to in-flight smoke before smoking was banned on domestic flights in 1990.
The nation’s cigarette makers could still ask the full court to review the ruling.
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