The trial against the three tobacco companies in Canada's Quebec province began in March 2012, more than a decade after it was first launched (AFP Photo/GEOFF ROBINS) |
Montreal (AFP) - Quebec's appeals court on Friday upheld a historic ruling ordering three tobacco firms to pay Can$15.5 billion (US$11.6 billion) to smokers in the Canadian province who claimed they were never warned about the health risks associated with smoking.
Imperial
Tobacco Canada, a subsidiary of British American Tobacco, Rothmans Benson &
Hedges and JTI-MacDonald have one month to launch an eventual appeal before
Canada's Supreme Court.
In June
2015, the Superior Court of Quebec ruled that the three companies should pay the
whopping amount to tens of thousands of smokers suffering from emphysema, lung
cancer or throat cancer.
According
to media reports, accruing interest will bring the final amount to more than
Can$17 billion.
The two
class action lawsuits behind the award, which were originally filed in 1998,
affected nearly one million smokers or ex-smokers, some of whom had been
consuming tobacco since the 1960s. The trial only began in March 2012.
"We
are disappointed with today's decision," Imperial Tobacco Canada spokesman
Eric Gagnon told reporters. "As the ruling in the lower court showed,
Canadian consumers know the risks associated with tobacco use. We should not be
held responsible."
Lawyers for
the plaintiffs meanwhile celebrated the "historic" ruling, going so
far as to call it a "masterpiece."
"The
ruling reached the same conclusions as did the lower court, solidifies them and
confirms that the companies conspired for 50 years to lie to the public,"
one of the attorneys, Andre L'Esperance, told journalists.
"This
is a total victory, on all fronts," added his colleague Philippe Trudel.
The lower
court had ruled that the companies failed in their general duty "not to
cause injury to another person" and to inform their customers of the risks
associated with their products.
No comments:
Post a Comment