[NEWS-RECORD] R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. was hit Friday with $23.6 billion in punitive damages by a Florida jury, one of the largest such awards in U.S. corporate and legal history.A jury in a Florida state court determined Thursday that the widow of Michael Johnson Sr., Cynthia Robinson, should receive $17 million in compensatory damages in the case even though the jury had determined Johnson was 30 percent responsible for his own illness.
"We hope this verdict will send a message to R.J. Reynolds and other big tobacco companies that will force them to stop putting the lives of innocent people in jeopardy," plaintiff attorney Willie Gary said in a statement Friday.
Though the punitive damages award is staggering — 75 percent of Reynolds American's market capitalization — there is ample legal precedent that the amount is likely to be ruled excessive by a state appeals or state Supreme Court, and possibly thrown out or drastically reduced.