Coupons Snuffed in $96M Tobacco Antitrust Case

A California judge will be asked in a hearing today to approve a $96 million cash settlement of antitrust claims against the largest U.S. maker of smokeless tobacco products.

The case would be the first to produce a cash settlement in antitrust suits against U.S. Tobacco, the Recorder reports. Plaintiffs in Wisconsin, Kansas and Tennessee settled for coupons instead.

Chris Athanasia, an in-house lawyer for a U.S. Tobacco subsidiary, said the company agreed to a cash settlement after the plaintiffs and a mediator said a California judge would never approve a coupon deal.