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Jesse Williams was a man like millions of other Americans. He had taken up smoking as a young man and had been a regular smoker for 40 years. Jesse Williams eventually died of cancer in 1997. Jesse's widow, Mayola, took legal action against Philip Morris, a tobacco company, on the basis of "massive market-directed fraud" over an extended period of time. Part of the argument was that Philip Morris knew that tobacco was harmful but that the advertising and marketing that the company carried out did not make this clear.
What made this case unusual were the damages that the court awarded to Mayola - £40.7 million, or $79.5 million. The payout was not only for the damages suffered by Mayola and Jesse, but also for the damage done by the company to the general public at large - in other words, other smokers.
Philip Morris believed the award to be excessive and appealed to the United States (US) Supreme Court. Philip Morris argued that is was unfair for the courts to expect the company to pay damages to 'strangers' - other smokers - who could, in theory, bring their own action against the company. The distinction, they argued, was between an individual bringing a case against the company as opposed to what is called a 'class action', where a group of people all of whom have been affected by a company's behaviour are encompassed in the award.
Should smokers take responsibility for their actions or were companies at fault for not making them aware of the dangers? Copyright: Christine Appleby, from stock.xchng.
The Supreme Court's decision was that Philip Morris would not have to pay such damages to Ms Williams. It based its judgement on the basis that the Judge in the case had not instructed the jury that Philip Morris were liable only for the damages to Ms Williams as the widow of the person who suffered and not to other smokers who had not brought action.
What the Supreme Court did not make clear was whether such damages could be awarded in future. A decision on this is expected in the future. A number of companies had been watching this case carefully, including car manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies and insurance firms.
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