Jury Says Reynolds to Pay Smoker $165,000
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R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc. was told by a Tampa jury to pay $165,000 to a 50-year smoker who claims the second-biggest U.S. tobacco company is responsible for his lung cancer.
Although it is a loss for the company, the award falls short of other sizable verdicts in Florida and on the West Coast.
The tobacco industry has not had much recent success in Florida state courts, where in July 2000, a Miami jury ordered the industry to pay $145 billion to a class of Florida smokers.
Lawyers for the Winston-Salem, N.C.-based company had argued that it should not have to pay Floyd Kenyon, 73, a retired schoolteacher who blames R.J. Reynolds for his lung cancer and breathing disorder.
The company’s shares rose 39 cents to $57.24 on the NYSE.
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