Arkansas judge denies class-action tobacco suit
07/16/99
A federal judge in Arkansas denied class-action status to a smoking and health lawsuit filed against all the major U.S. Tobacco companies, a court official said Friday.
Nearly all class-action suits filed against Big Tobacco have been denied by courts. The only one that has gone to trial, the Engle case in Miami, resulted in a strong jury verdict against the tobacco companies on July 7. The damages phase of that trial will begin in September.
Judge Stephen Reasoner of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern Division of Arkansas made his ruling on Thursday, a court official said.