Ruling to Separate Smokers’ Cases Delays Suit’s Penalty Phase

MIAMI — The penalty phase of a class-action lawsuit by Florida smokers against cigarette makers was delayed Tuesday after an appeals court ruled that potentially thousands of damage claims must be heard individually.

A jury, which ruled in July that smoking is addictive and causes diseases such as cancer, reconvened Tuesday to decide whether the plaintiffs are entitled to damage awards.

But a state appeals court ruled Friday that the claims of all plaintiffs, who could number up to 500,000, must be heard one smoker at a time.

Miami-Dade County Circuit Court Judge Robert Kaye dismissed the jurors with an apology but did not refer directly to the appeals court ruling, which was seen as a victory for tobacco companies.

“We had intended to get underway today, but unfortunately we’re not going to,” Kaye said.

Lawyers were scheduled to meet with the judge outside the jury’s presence today to discuss the impact of the appellate ruling.

The appellate ruling temporarily removed the specter of a lump-sum punitive award that industry analysts said could range from $200 billion to $500 billion, but it left the trial court without a blueprint.

Under the original plan, the jury was to decide first whether two women with lung cancer were entitled to compensatory damages to reimburse them for medical expenses and lost income.

The jury was then to decide whether to award punitive damages, which would punish the tobacco companies, to the entire class of plaintiffs--Florida smokers who blame cigarettes for their illnesses.

The appeals court scotched that plan, ruling that “the issue of damages, both compensatory and punitive, must be tried on an individual basis.”