Jump to full article: Westlaw (Thompson West), 2011-04-15
Intro: A California jury has awarded nearly $1.4 million to a man who says he developed a fatal form of lung cancer from smoking Kent cigarettes in the 1950s that contained filters laced with asbestos.
The San Francisco County Superior Court jury found that the cigarettes did not perform as safely as expected and that their design was a substantial factor in causing plaintiff Donat Lenney’s mesothelioma.
The Kent cigarettes Lenney smoked from 1952 to 1956 were manufactured by Lorillard Tobacco using Micronite filters made by Hollingsworth & Vose, his suit said.
Lenney was awarded $969,700, and the jury gave his wife $400,000 for loss of consortium.
Lorillard was found 35 percent liable, H&V was found 25 percent liable and a group of asbestos suppliers was determined to be liable for the remainder.
The jury did not award punitive damages, as neither Lorillard nor H&V was found to have acted with malice, oppression or fraud.
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