Harris v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

383 F. Supp. 3d 1315
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedApril 15, 2019
DocketCase No.: 3:09-cv-13482
StatusPublished

This text of 383 F. Supp. 3d 1315 (Harris v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Harris v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 383 F. Supp. 3d 1315 (M.D. Fla. 2019).

Opinion

EDMUND A. SARGUS, JR., CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

*1320This is an "Engle -progeny"1 lawsuit by Plaintiff Patricia Harris ("Plaintiff'), as Personal Representative of the Estate of Gerald Harris ("Mr. Harris"), against three cigarette manufacturers, Philip Morris USA, Inc., R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, and Lorillard Tobacco Company (collectively, "Defendants"). The case is before the Court on Defendants' Renewed Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law on All Claims or in the Alternative, Motion for New Trial (Doc. 178), and Defendants' Motion to Alter or Amend the Judgment (Doc. 179). Plaintiff has responded to both motions. (Doc. 182; Doc. 183). The Court has also reviewed the parties' supplemental briefs. (Doc. 201; Doc. 202). The matter is thus ripe for a decision. For the reasons set forth below, Defendants' Renewed Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law on All Claims and alternative Motion for New Trial is due to be denied. Defendants' Motion to Alter or Amend the Judgment is due to be granted to the extent that the Court will amend the judgment to reflect each party's comparative fault. Otherwise, the Motion to Alter or Amend Judgment is due to be denied.

I. Background

On September 12, 2013, Plaintiff filed an Amended Complaint against the Defendants pursuant to Engle III . (Doc. 5). Plaintiff alleged that the Defendants' cigarettes were responsible for Mr. Harris's coronary heart disease (CHD) and oral cavity cancer, as well as the lung cancer that ultimately claimed his life. Plaintiff sought wrongful death and survival damages under theories of negligence, strict liability, fraudulent concealment, and conspiracy to conceal.

Following a trial, the jury returned a verdict for Plaintiff on the claims of negligence and strict liability, but not on the claims of fraudulent concealment and conspiracy to conceal. (Doc. 143). In reaching its verdict, the jury determined as a threshold matter that Mr. Harris was addicted to cigarettes containing nicotine. (Id. at 1). The parties stipulated mat Mr. Harris's CHD manifested on or before the Engle class cutoff date of November 21, 1996 (see Doc. 121 at 35 ¶ 2; Doc. 163 at 180), but the jury determined that Mr. Harris's addiction to cigarettes was not the cause of his heart disease (Doc. 143 at 2 ¶ 3). However, the jury found that while Mr. Harris's oral cavity cancer had not manifested by the cutoff date (id. at 2 ¶ 2), Mr. Harris's addiction to cigarettes was the cause of the oral cavity cancer (id. at 2 ¶ 3). The jury further found that Mr. Harris's addiction to cigarettes was the cause of the lung cancer that resulted in his death. (Id. at 4 ¶ 6).2

In accordance with the Court's instructions, the jury awarded two sets of compensatory *1321damages: one for the diseases that did not cause Mr. Harris's death (i.e., oral cavity cancer )3 and one for the diseases that did cause Mr. Harris's death (i.e., lung cancer ). The Court reasoned that damages for the injuries not resulting in Mr. Harris's death reflected survival damages, while damages for the injuries that did result in Mr. Harris's death reflected wrongful death damages. With respect to oral cavity cancer, the jury awarded $ 1,326,650.00 in survival damages (Doc. 143 at 12 ¶ 17), assigning 60% of the fault to Mr. Harris, 15% each to Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds, and 10% to Lorillard (id. at 3 ¶ 5).4 With respect to Mr. Harris's lung cancer, the jury awarded $ 400,000.00 in wrongful death in damages (id. at 12 ¶ 16), assigning 70% of the fault to Mr. Harris and 10% each to Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds, and Lorillard (id. at 4 ¶ 7).5 Neither of the damage verdicts distinguished between economic damages (such as medical bills) and non-economic damages (such as pain and suffering). The jury determined that punitive damages were not warranted, (Id. at 13).

Two weeks after the trial ended, Defendants filed a "Motion for Judgment in Accordance with the Jury's Verdict." (Doc. 157). Defendants argued that based on the verdict, Mr. Harris was not an Engle class member because of the lack of unity between the disease that met the cutoff date requirement and the disease that was caused by the addiction to cigarettes. As noted above, the jury found that the tobacco-related illness that manifested by the Engle class cutoff date (CHD) was not caused by Mr. Harris's addiction to cigarettes, but that the tobacco-related illness that was caused by Mr. Harris's addiction to cigarettes (oral cavity cancer ) had not manifested by the Engle class cutoff date. The Court determined that Mr. Harris was an Engle class member nonetheless. (Doc. 174). The Court explained that in deciding class membership, it was bound by Engle III's treatment of class representative Angie Delia Vecchia. Id. at 4-5. In Engle III , the Florida Supreme Court held that Delia Vecchia was properly included as a class member "despite a mismatch between the disease mat timely manifested (COPD) and the disease for which legal cause was found (lung cancer )." Id. at 6 (citing Engle III , 945 So. 2d at 1256, 1276 ). This Court reasoned that because Plaintiff stood in Delia Vecchia's shoes, id. at 5, Mr. Harris also qualified as an Engle class member even if the tobacco-related disease that manifested by the Engle cutoff date was different from the tobacco-related disease for which the jury found causation, id. at 10. Thus, the Court denied Defendants' motion.

Thereafter, the Court entered judgment in favor of Plaintiff and against Defendants in the amount of $ 1,726,650.00. (Doc. 175). The original judgment reflected the total amount of damages found by the jury but did not reflect the degree of Mr. Harris's comparative fault. Shortly thereafter, Defendants filed the two instant motions.

II. Defendants' Renewed Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law on All Claims and Alternative Motion for New Trial

A. Standard

The standard for granting a renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law under Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(b) is the same as the standard for granting the pre-submission motion under Rule 50(a).

*1322Chaney v. City of Orlando, Fla. , 483 F.3d 1221, 1227 (11th Cir. 2007) (citation omitted). Under that standard, "a district court's proper analysis is squarely and narrowly focused on the sufficiency of evidence." Id. A court "should render judgment as a matter of law when there is no legally sufficient evidentiary basis for a reasonable jury to find for that party on that issue." Cleveland v. Home Shopping Network, Inc.

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Bluebook (online)
383 F. Supp. 3d 1315, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/harris-v-rj-reynolds-tobacco-co-flmd-2019.