Posted by Briana Encarnacion.
The articles by CBS News, USA Today, and Time Magazine below all discuss a case between a woman named Cynthia Robinson and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., a cigarette making company. Ms. Robinson had filed suit against R.J. Reynolds on behalf of her husband, Michael Johnson, Sr., who passed away in 1996 due to lung cancer. According to Time Magazine, “Johnson got hooked on cigarettes when he was just 13-years-old, and eventually smoked up to three packs a day.” The article goes on to demonstrate how truly addicted Mr. Johnson was to cigarettes by quoting his wife, “When you’re on oxygen and you have to step outside for a cigarette, you can’t stop. You’re addicted.” So it was clear that Mr. Johnson was addicted to cigarettes and that is why he developed lung cancer, but the question was, how exactly was R.J. Reynolds to blame?
In an article published in USAToday, Christopher Chestnut, an attorney for Ms. Robinson, was quoted stating, “The environment today is completely different than it was in the ’50s and ’60s, when Ms. Robinson’s husband was alive . . . Reynolds knew its product was addictive, but it didn’t market it correctly. The company lied and marketed cigarettes as safe, yet they contained countless harmful chemicals.” This statement alone tells us who was to blame. It was R.J. Reynolds. Had the company been more transparent as opposed to intentionally hiding the negative effects of smoking their cigarettes, the punitive damages would have never been so great. However, because they intended to make profits by lying to their customers and causing harm to them in the process, punitive damages were granted to Ms. Robinson.
Time Magazine quotes Willie E. Gary, another attorney of Ms. Robinson, stating, “We expected every dime and more . . . Johnson started smoking when he was a teen. How aware of the risks can you be at that age? But [the tobacco industry] would market and target kids. To this day they are going after our youth, stuffing their pockets. It’s all about the profits and it’s nothing about the health and safety of the people.” This is exactly right. From what I have learned through studying business law, the ends do not necessarily justify the means, an idea conveyed in the principle of “double effect;” it is all about the intent. However, the means do in fact justify the end and in this case, R.J. Reynolds did not have good intentions. As Gary stated, they were focused solely on profit. Their goal was to make money by selling cigarettes that were addictive and contained harsh chemicals known to cause cancer. They knew that by targeting the youth and hiding the reality that their cigarettes could cause cancer, they would attain a market large enough to bring in a great deal of revenue. They failed to consider the long-run effects of this decision and in the end it came back to haunt them. Ms. Robinson and her son were awarded $7,302,625 and $9,591,208 in compensatory damages, respectively, and not to mention the $23,623,718,906.62 in punitive damages, according to cvn.com.
Still, as stressed in the article published by CBS News, the money was not what was important to Ms. Robinson and her family. What was important was that the tobacco industry learn their lesson and stop targeting the youth. Ms. Robinson’s attorney Gary stated, “The lawsuit’s goal was to stop tobacco companies from targeting children and young people with their advertising. . . If we don’t get a dime, that’s OK, if we can make a difference and save some lives” (CBS News). It was clear that although punitive damages might have been seen as overly excessive by the tobacco industry, especially R.J. Reynolds themselves, that was not the goal of Ms. Robinson. It was merely an added bonus to doing what was right on behalf of her husband.
This case is a great example of the theory of double effect and a good one to study when it comes to the debate on whether or not punitive damages should have a cap. Opinions will vary of course, however, it is interesting to study cases such as these and decide on your own whether or not you agree with the verdict.
Briana is an accounting major at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University, Class of 2018.
Sources:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/07/19/jury-hits-rj-reynolds-with-23b-verdict/12887315/
http://time.com/3016961/23-6-billion-lawsuit-winner-to-big-tobacco-are-you-awake-now/
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/r-j-reynolds-tobacco-hit-for-billions-in-michael-johnson-sr-lawsuit/
http://cvn.com/proceedings/cynthia-robinson-v-rj-reynolds-tobacco-company-et-al-trial-2014-03-03