B&W Announcement
British American Tobacco PLC
23 November 2000
The following statement has been released by British American Tobacco's US
subsidiary, Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation.
BROWN & WILLIAMSON
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 22, 2000
Contact: Mark Smith 502-568-7603
BROWN & WILLIAMSON SAYS FLORIDA SUPREME COURT
ERRED IN REVERSING COURT OF APPEALS DECISION
LOUISVILLE, KY - Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation said today that
the Florida Supreme Court erred in its ruling today overturning a Florida
Court of Appeal's decision in favor of the company over the 1996 product
liability lawsuit known as Carter vs. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation.
'This decision is in direct conflict with the United States Supreme Court
decision in the Cipollone case, which established the doctrine of preemption,'
said B&W attorney John Finley. That doctrine finds that the accuracy of
federally mandated health warnings on each pack of cigarettes can not be
challenged.
'We will seek a rehearing before the Florida Supreme Court, and we are
considering going directly to U.S. Supreme Court,' he said. 'We are confident
that this case eventually will be resolved consistent with the U.S. Supreme
Court's prior rulings.'
The 1996 Carter trial was the first verdict ever found against Brown &
Williamson in a tobacco product liability case. It was appealed and overturned
by Florida's First District Court of Appeals in June 1998 and upheld by the
same court in 1999.
The Florida Supreme Court decision reverses the First District Court of
Appeals' opinion in favor of B&W which held that, under Cipollone, plaintiff's
claims attacking the longstanding warnings on cigarette packs were preempted
and that a trial should not have been allowed. The Court agreed with B&W's
contention that plaintiff's proposed package insert improperly 'implicated
post 1969 warnings' and therefore violated the federal preemption doctrine.
The Court held that plaintiffs were improperly allowed to claim that the
federal warning label was inadequate.
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Brown & Williamson
Page 2
The First District Court of Appeals also had indicated the verdict in
favor of the plaintiffs also should be reversed based upon the expiration of
the statute of limitations and due to the introduction of irrelevant evidence.
Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation is the third largest tobacco
manufacturer in the United States. With headquarters in Louisville, Ky., its
major brands include KOOL, Lucky Strike, GPC, Pall Mall, Carlton, Viceroy,
Misty, Capri, Tareyton and Barclay.
For more information on this and other issues, visit
www.brownandwilliamson.com.
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