Florida Appellate Court Reversed $145 Billion Verdict Against Cigarette Companies

In 2000, a group of flight attendants won a lawsuit in Florida against cigarette makers for injuries resulting from secondhand inhalation of cigarette smoke. The class action suit was initially certified in October 1994. The plaintiffs were awarded $145 billion in punitive damages as a class, and three of them received $12.7 million in compensatory for their individual injuries. The Third District Court of Appeals in Florida reversed in 2003, and the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the reversal of the punitive damages award in 2006.

Compensatory damages are awarded to compensate a plaintiff for injuries caused by the defendant's actions. Punitive damages are award to punish the defendant for certain conduct.

The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the appellate court's reversal of the award of $145 billion for punitive damages. Though the class of flight attendants did not receive the $145 billion, two of them as individuals did receive a total of $6.873 million in compensatory damages. The Florida Supreme Court re-instated the jury verdict on the compensatory damages award for those two plaintiffs, even though the Third District Court of Appeals had ruled against them.

In the opinion, the Florida Supreme Court cited a United States Supreme Court decision that limits punitive damages awards:

"The United States Supreme Court has stated that a review of a punitive damages award must include consideration of three guideposts to determine whether the award is unconstitutionally excessive:

(1) the degree of reprehensibility of the defendant's misconduct; (2) the disparity between the actual or potential harm suffered by the plaintiff and the punitive damages award; and (3) the difference between the punitive damages awarded by the jury and the civil penalties authorized or imposed in comparable cases.

State Farm Mutual Auto. Ins. Co. v. Campbell, 538 U.S. 408, 418 (2003)..."

Throughout the history of American tort law, it has been quite common for the largest of verdicts to be controversial and to be reversed. During the 1800s, when tort law increased substantially, many of the big verdicts against the railroads were reversed. Still, the verdicts that stood on appeal established precedent for later cases.

In a related litigation brought by the State of Florida against the cigarette companies in the 1990's, the State of Florida was awarded several billion dollars. In November 1998 the cigarette companies settled a number of lawsuits brought by some of the state governments, including Florida. The total settlement amount was $200 billion.