JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The nation’s largest tobacco company wants a state lawsuit filed over its cigarettes to be moved to a Florida federal court.
Defendant R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company filed a notice of removal last month in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Jacksonville Division.
The company, in its 14-page filing, argues complete diversity exists and the amount in controversy will be satisfied.
Reynolds points to a 2013 Florida ruling finding it “facially apparent” that a complaint alleging negligence, strict liability, and breach of implied warranty, and seeking damages for injuries and death, would seek damages exceeding the $75,000 threshold.
In federal court, the “amount in controversy” refers to the monetary value of a plaintiff’s claim. This must exceed $75,000, exclusive of interest and costs, for diversity jurisdiction.
“Mr. Meyers seeks damages ‘for pain and suffering, mental distress, loss of the ability to lead a normal life, medical expenses, and lost wages in the past, medical expenses, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, mental distress, and loss of the ability to lead a normal life in the future,’” the tobacco company wrote in its removal notice.
“The injuries he alleges are serious ones: COPD and lung cancer. Mrs. Meyers seeks damages for the loss of ‘companionship, comfort, services, and consortium of her husband.’”
Reynolds points out that in recent smoking-and-health cases tried in Florida, the juries awarded “significantly more” than $75,000 in damages, exclusive of interest and costs.
In the landmark class action trial Engle v. Liggett Grp. Inc., held 25 years ago, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed compensatory damages awards of $2.85 million to one individual plaintiff and $4.023 million to another.
“And in the decades since, Florida courts have affirmed several multimillion dollar compensatory awards to individual plaintiffs,” Reynolds wrote in its notice.
In November 2024, plaintiffs Paul and Maryann Meyers filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of the Seventh Judicial Circuit in and for Flagler County, Florida.
Their initial complaint named three defendants, Reynolds, Philip Morris USA and Publix Supermarkets Inc.
The plaintiffs later voluntarily dismissed all claims against Philip Morris.
Then, when filing their first amended complaint, the plaintiffs effectively dismissed their claims against Publix, as the complaint did not set forth any cause of action against the grocery company, Reynolds noted in their filing.
Paul Meyers seeks damages for two medical conditions he alleges can be linked to his smoking Winston, Salem, Raleigh, Viceroy, and Pall Mall cigarettes – all manufactured by Reynolds. They are: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, diagnosed in June 2022; and lung cancer, diagnosed in July 2023.
Paul Meyers asserts negligence, strict liability, fraudulent misrepresentation, and conspiracy to fraudulently conceal against Reynolds.
Maryann Meyers asserts loss of consortium against the tobacco company. Loss of consortium, legally, is a claim made by a spouse for the loss of non-economic benefits due to someone’s negligence.
Tampa law firm Hill Ward Henderson and Atlanta firm Jones Day are representing Reynolds in the action.
