The R.J Reynolds company was ordered to pay 37.5 million to the family of a lung cancer victim. Read more after jump
The South Florida Jury ordered The R.J Reynolds Company, to pay 37.5 million to the family of a lung cancer victim whom was previously employed with the company. Laura Grossman became an advertising emblem for the tobacco company, and began working for the company just at the age of 15. She became addicted to cigarettes and consequently they became the reason for her demise at the early age of 38. The Grossman family argued that the company played a partial part in her addiction, she was “too young to understand the risks of smoking when she started”. They accused the R.J Reynolds company of targeting young teens to buy their product as well as market it.
The company fought back, insisting that Grossman “was well aware of the dangers of smoking” and going as far as stating that her husband should be the one partially responsible for not stopping her habit.
The family brought the company to court initially, in “hopes that this does not happen to more teens in the future”. Yet all one needs to bring a tobacco company to court is proof of addiction.
“As a result of a 2006 Florida Supreme Court ruling, which stated that cases regarding tobacco users must be heard individually, smokers and their families only need to provide some proof of addiction and that smoking was the cause of their sickness or death, CBS News reports”.
Via HuffPost
