Media Backgrounder & Commentary:
 Oregon Jury Says Philip Morris Lied About Low Tar Merit Cigarettes and Must Pay the Family of Michelle Schwarz $150 Million in Punitive Damages

Boston
March 22, 2002  

Contact:  Edward L. Sweda, Jr. or
Mark A. Gottlieb
617-373-2026
 media@tplp.org

 

 

Schwarz v. Philip Morris 

In the Circuit Court of the State of Oregon for the County of Multnomah.  Docket No. 0002-01376.  Total jury award was $150,168,000.  $115 million of the punitive damages award was for  for fraud, $10 million for strict liability and $25 million for negligence as well as $168,000 for compensatory damages.

CASE BACKGROUND

 

The family of Michelle Schwarz brought a wrongful death action against Philip Morris after Schwarz's death from lung cancer.  Michelle Schwarz smoked Merit cigarettes for approximately 23 years.  She began smoking in the early 1960s when she was an 18-year-old nursing student. She tried to quit smoking several times after being urged by her family to do so, and eventually switched to Merit cigarettes in 1976 because she believed the lower-tar cigarettes would make it easier for her to quit smoking.  She was 53 years old when she died on July 13, 1999.  She had worked in her husband's medical office until his retirement in 1995 and then as a travel agent.

 

            The Plaintiff is Richard Schwarz, Michelle Schwarz' widower and the duly appointed Personal Representative of her estate.  The action is based on product liability, negligence and fraud.  The Plaintiff seeks: $100,000 in economic damages for medical expenses; $5,000 for funeral expenses; and $400,000 for loss of income and wage earning capacity.  Additionally, the Plaintiff seeks $5,000,000 in compensation for non-economic damages.  In his closing argument, Attorney Lawrence Wobbrock urged the jury to award more than $300 million, saying that only a large verdict would deter Philip Morris from continuing to lie about the dangers of low-tar cigarettes.

 

            The Plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint alleges that the Merit cigarettes sold to Michelle Schwarz were "defective and unreasonably dangerous in one or more of the following respects:

                        a. The cigarettes contained added ammonia to increase the effects of

                                    nicotine;

                        b. The cigarettes or their smoke contained altered pH so as to increase

                                    the effects of nicotine;

                        c. The cigarettes contained added sugars so as to increase the effects

                                    of nicotine; and

                        d. At the time defendant's light cigarettes were sold, the product was

                                    dangerous and in a condition not contemplated by the ultimate

                                    consumer in that it was manufactured, marketed, and sold as a

                                    less harmful alternative to ordinary cigarettes."

 

            The Plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint also alleges that Philip Morris is negligent for "selling so-called light cigarettes as a safer cigarette and as an alternative to cessation" and that the company "recklessly and/or intentionally made fraudulent misrepresentations about its tobacco products, including misrepresentations about adverse health effects, the addictive nature of its tobacco products, and their contents."

 

            Philip Morris denies the Plaintiff's allegations and claims that Michelle Schwarz knew the health risks and could have stopped smoking at any time.   Attorney John W. Philips in his closing argument argued that Michelle Schwarz was not deceived by Philip Morris and that she "took responsibility for her own decisions."

 

            Judge Roosevelt Robinson is presiding over the trial in Portland, Oregon.  Opening statements began on February 5, 2002.  Jury deliberations began on March 18, 2002 after Judge Robinson read the jury his instructions.

 

            To reach a verdict, nine out of 12 jurors were required to agree.

The Tobacco Products Liability Project is holding a tobacco litigation conference in Boston on April 26-28 which will include several of the attorneys who have won significant verdicts on behalf of individual tobacco victims. For information on the conference, please see http://tobacco.neu.edu/conference.

COMMENTARY

 

Edward L. Sweda, Jr., Senior attorney for the Tobacco Products Liability Project at Northeastern University School of Law said, "Here is a jury that heard more than a month of testimony and concluded that country's number one cigarette maker is guilty of fraud and deception that legally caused a death.  The jury sent a message to Philip Morris by awarding punitive damages that there is a price to pay for its low tar lies."

 

"This may very well signal a new and important series of cases against Philip Morris and the other major tobacco companies that have long tried to get smokers to switch to low tar brands rather than quit smoking," said Tobacco Products Liability Project Attorney Mark Gottlieb.  "Philip Morris used tricks like placing tiny holes on the filter to dilute the smoke and fool machines that measure tar and nicotine. Consumer fraud class actions have been certified in three states (IL, MA, FL) and the number of potential cases out there like the Schwarz case is  staggering," Gottlieb added.

 

Richard Daynard, a professor at Northeastern University School of Law and Chair of the Tobacco Products Liability Project added that, "in the past year, juries in Oregon, California, Florida, and Kansas have returned verdicts against Big Tobacco in individual cases, punishing the companies with punitive damages in 3 of the 4 cases.  The plaintiff's bar has is developing the sophistication needed to defeat the aggressive litigation tactics of companies like Philip Morris and they will only get better with time."

 

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