 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Price v. Philip Morris12/15/2005
ly. They may perceive the hypothetical transaction as involving only "funny money." Dr. Viscusi testified that the Knowledge Networks survey violated all three of these guidelines.
At the close of evidence, PMUSA again sought decertification of the class and moved for judgment as a matter of law. After considering proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law submitted by both parties, the circuit court declined to decertify the class, rejected each of PMUSA's 27 affirmative defenses, and entered judgment for the plaintiffs on the issue of liability.
5. Judgment Order
The circuit court issued its judgment order on March 21, 2003. The portion of the order relating to the issue of class certification was noted above.
In the judgment order, the circuit court ruled on issues upon which it had earlier reserved judgment. Ruling that the Labeling Act does not expressly preempt plaintiffs' claims under the Consumer Fraud Act, the circuit court stated that plaintiffs' Consumer Fraud Act claims are based upon " `a state-law duty not to make false statements of material fact or to conceal such facts' " (quoting Cipollone, 505 U.S. at 528, 120 L.Ed. 2d at 430, 112 S.Ct. at 2623). Further, the circuit court ruled that even if plaintiffs' Consumer Fraud Act claim is expressed in terms of an omission rather than misrepresentation, the omission of information qualifying the claim of lower tar cannot be read as a claim of failure to warn. See Cipollone, 505 U.S. at 528, 120 L.Ed. 2d at 430, 112 S.Ct. at 2623. A claim of concealment of a material fact-that the claim of lowered tar was based on a laboratory measurement that was known to be an inaccurate representation of the actual delivery of tar-is a claim of fraud, not a claim of failure to warn.
Further, the circuit court noted that neither the Labeling Act nor the regulations of the FTC govern a cigarette manufacturer's voluntary use of the terms "lights" and "lowered tar and nicotine" as descriptors on packaging. The mere fact that the FTC has, at times, considered and rejected such regulations does not create conflict preemption. The circuit court also rejected defendant's reliance on the first amendment and on article I, sections 4 and 5, of the Illinois Constitution as bases for finding plaintiffs' claim preempted. The circuit court stated that neither the federal nor the state constitution protects commercial speech that is false and misleading.
Then, without specifically referring to section 2 or section 10b(1) of the Consumer Fraud Act, the circuit court stated:
"Philip Morris' Seventh Affirmative Defense-Compliance with Government Regulations-is denied. The false and misleading use of the descriptors `Lights' and `Lowered Tar and Nicotine' has never been specifically authorized by law. Philip Morris voluntarily chose to use these terms on its packages of Marlboro Lights and Cambridge Lights. No regulatory body has ever required (or even specifically approved) the use of these terms by Philip Morris. The court finds that Philip Morris has not established that its conduct is `specifically authorized' by law."
The circuit court characterized plaintiffs' Consumer Fraud Act claim as being based on two distinct types of fraudulent statements by PMUSA. First, plaintiffs alleged that the representations "light" and "lower in tar and nicotine" on Marlboro Lights and Cambridge Lights labels were "material and false." Second, with regard to plaintiffs' claim that the smoke delivered by Marlboro Lights and Cambridge Lights is more mutagenic than the smoke delivered by their full-flavored counterparts, the circuit court characterized the claim as one of misrepresentation by omis
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 Illinois Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|