Cigarettes: Marginal WTF (1330 hits)
Category: Politics -> LibertariansRating: 1.25 on 15 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Death_Metal_Dude <fuck.that> (View user info) at 2003-11-20 03:57:16 EST
I was doing some research on my hometown's newspaper's website, when I stumbled across this:
The $3 Billion Man: Topangan Richard Boeken Wins Record Judgment
"This is who I am. I don't take anything lying down." That's how lung cancer victim Richard (Rick) Boeken, explains his decision to fight the big tobacco company that he believes is killing him. In a huge victory for anti-tobacco forces, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury recently awarded Boeken, age 56, $5.5 million in general damages and $3 billion in punitive damages in a lawsuit against the Philip Morris tobacco company. In a case full of superlatives, it was the largest judgment ever won by an individual against a cigarette maker.
full story: http://www.topangamessenger.com/v25n13/news.shtml
Holy shit! Where the fuck do they come up with that number? I don't exactly disagree with the actual case and verdict. The guy's guaranteeing the good life for his kids when he dies, and his win is symbolic, but what kind of justification can anyone possibly come up with for giving this ex heroin addict (read the story) 3 bil? Of course, the impending years-long appeals process is going to drastically reduce that amount. Maybe down to a paltry 1.4 billion.
User Reviews
Submitted by Death_Metal_Dude (user info) at 2004-12-17 23:00:52 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by hidden101 (user info) at 2004-12-14 13:27:51 (#)
Ranking: 2
holy shit, i actually read it this time.
i'm calling my lawyer.
HAHAHA a year later
Submitted by PWNstar (user info) at 2004-12-14 13:34:48 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Ok, but I know in Indiana, punitive damages are highly taxed and the person hardly gets any of it, with a heavy emphasis on hardly.
Is this a similar case then?
Submitted by hidden101 (user info) at 2004-12-14 13:27:51 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
holy shit, i actually read it this time.
i'm calling my lawyer.
Submitted by AwesomeJohnson (user info) at 2004-12-14 13:27:30 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
And another major victory for personal accountability. Pretty soon, someone's going to have to put a warning on toilet water saying it might contain piss.
Submitted by bossk (user info) at 2004-12-14 13:13:36 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
At some point this will get up to a court of appeals where the judge just happens to be a golfing buddy of the CEO of Philip Morris, and it will suddenly be overturned.
Not that I have any problem with that - what a fucking ridiculous judgment. Sounds like the jury had an axe to grind. I don't see how you can possibly give the company 100% fault when the man made a conscious decision to keep doing something that many, many people have successfully stopped doing over the years. I know it's hard, but you gotta want it, know what I mean?
Submitted by munkeypants (user info) at 2004-12-14 12:44:13 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
<craving a butt>
Now, doesn't that leave everything open for thousands of others to sue for the
same amount? How is his story different from anyone else's?
billion? holy fucking shit.
Submitted by andras (user info) at 2004-02-03 00:10:07 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
they shouldn't give him jack shit. he chose to smoke, now he has to grit his teeth and suffer the consecuences.
Submitted by Scott_James (user info) at 2003-12-06 19:11:44 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Damn, as a smoker I always have a conflict of interests in commenting on this issue, but seeing how he started smoking in 1957, years before the harmful effects of smoking were documented, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Lucky bastard. Shame we contemporary smokers find it so damn hard to quit even with all the knowledge we have.
Submitted by jinx (user info) at 2003-11-20 10:55:52 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
I just thought of my new get rich scheme...(step one - pick up smoking and chewing tobacco as MAJOR new hobbies)I'll let you all know how it pans out
Submitted by Natophelia (user info) at 2003-11-20 09:50:40 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Aw gosh. Poor guy. Someone tied him down and forced him to smoke :( It must have been hell.
Submitted by El_Guapo (user info) at 2003-11-20 09:32:28 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
"Submitted by hidden101 (user info) at 2003-11-20 03:58:14 (#)
Ranking: 2
i didn't read this, but SMOKING KICKS ASS. "
hahahahahahaha!!
i somke and i think those lawsuits are ridiculous
Submitted by GrizzlyHunter62 (user info) at 2003-11-20 04:43:11 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
If there's a reason to start smoking, it's to get a settlement like that so my kids would never have to work. But, alas, I never smoked a day in my life.
Maybe I can sue some Canadian beer company for making beer that tastes too good to pass up, causing me to drink when I'm the designated drive and put friends in danger.
Submitted by jimmiss at 2003-11-20 04:03:17 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
3 BILLION!!! Dear god, he could give away Two-Thousand-Nine-Hundred-Ninty-Nine MILLION Dollars and still never have to work for the rest of his life. For god sakes why not ME????
Submitted by Method (user info) at 2003-11-20 04:01:38 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Doesn't it though? It brightens my otherwise dreary existence.
Submitted by hidden101 (user info) at 2003-11-20 03:58:14 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
i didn't read this, but SMOKING KICKS ASS.