Jump to full article: Tillsonburg (Ont) News (ca), 2010-06-04
Author: Posted By MICHAEL-ALLAN MARION, QMI Agency
Intro: A growing class-action lawsuit by the Ontario tobacco board and growers against major manufacturers is taking another step forward with the filing of a statement of claim against a third company, JTI MacDonald Corp.
Werner Keller, a lawyer with Windsor-based Sutts, Strosberg LLP acting on behalf of the plaintiffs, was successful in late April in getting a judge's order allowing a suit to be filed against JTI.
The company is under court protection through the federal Companies Creditors Arrangements Act, which protects it from lawsuits, unless a judge agrees to a motion allowing an action to proceed. Shortly afterward, the plaintiffs filed a $ 50-million suit against the company in Ontario Superior Court in London.
The Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers' Marketing Board and individual growers Andy Jacko, Brian Baswick, Ron Kichler and Arpad Dobrentey filed similar actions against Imperial Tobacco and Rothmans Benson and Hedges in late 2009, but had to wait to file against the third large manufacturer until the legal protection obstacle had been cleared. . . .
The plaintiffs argue the class actions seek to recover the difference between the export price paid by the domestic manufacturers for Ontario tobacco at the board's auctions and the higher price they ought to have paid because the tobacco was actually intended for domestic use.
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