Husband of Smoker Awarded $2.5 Million

A San Francisco jury in a retrial of a smoking suit has awarded about $2.5 million in compensatory damages to the husband of a smoker who died at age 40.

Jurors found liability against both R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris, but its answers to a jury verdict form indicated that only R.J. Reynolds will face punitive damages, the Recorder reports.

The suit had claimed the companies misled smoker Leslie Whiteley about the dangers of smoking. A California appeals court had overturned the first $21.7 million verdict, saying the legislature had limited liability. Punitive damages had comprised $20 million of that award.