Action on Smoking and Health A National Legal-Action Antismoking Organization Entirely Supported by Tax-Deductible Contributions    Info About ASH  | ash.org |  To Join ASH

Excerpts from Tobacco Companies Prevail in Hawaii Unions' Suit

Bloomberg News [01/28/99]

Tobacco companies won another legal victory as a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by some Hawaii-based unions aimed at recovering money spent treating their rank-and-file's smoking-related illnesses.

U.S. District Judge Samuel King found the unions' health plans couldn't make a legitimate claim for damages on behalf of their members. King also concluded the suit duplicated efforts by the Hawaii Attorney General's office to recover smoking-related health-care costs as part of the tobacco industry's $206 billion settlement with the states in November.

The Hawaii suit was among a half-dozen union trust fund suits seeking to recoup health care expenses from the tobacco industry to have been dismissed by federal judges within the last year.

Union officials filed suit in federal court in Honolulu in 1997 against British American Tobacco Plc's Brown & Williamson unit, industry leader Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds, Loews Corp's Lorillard Tobacco Co., Brooke Group Ltd. and several tobacco trade associations and the industry's public relations firm.
 
 

The unions were hoping to follow the lead of states in pushing tobacco companies to pick up the tab for health claims tied to smoking. A recent study found cigarette smoking led to a total of $72.7 billion in U.S. medical costs in 1993 alone.
 
 

King rejected the unions' contention that their health plans were injured by being forced to pay out millions to treat smoking- related illness, which left less money to cover other ailments.

click here to return to ASH's Home Web Page: http://ash.org
click here for more information about Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
click here to learn the many benefits of joining ASH on-line, over the Internet