Filed under: Dr. Boyce Money
Marie's family decided to confront the maker of Newport cigarettes for their negligent behavior and won a stunning $152 million lawsuit against the company. The judgement consisted of $81 million in damages and another $71 million that had been awarded earlier this week. It took quite a few years to get there, but justice has been served. This is the largest judgement in history against anyone in the tobacco industry.
"It was her wish to sort of bring this suit, and I've honored that wish. It's been my mission to see this to completion. I'm sure she feels vindicated. I'm sure she feels thankful for the 14 members of the jury that they ruled that they committed these offenses," said William Evan's, Marie's son.
Lorillard is the company behind Newport cigarettes. As expected, they deny targeting cigarettes toward young people and plan to appeal the verdict. We can also expect that the drama is far from over, and it may be quite some time before Marie's family will see a penny of the money from this lawsuit.
During my PhD program, I spent quite a bit of time studying the history of tobacco lawsuits. I found that tobacco companies have been ruthless through the years when it comes to defending themselves against these sorts of claims. Anyone who dared to take on the tobacco industry found himself/herself to be the subject of intense background checks, legal manipulation and significant amounts of intimidation. The excessive counter-attacks of the industry were due to the fact that they knew that if one of them lost a suit, then the entire industry could crumble.
Tobacco companies even went as far as creating "think tanks" that did research claiming that cigarettes are actually healthy and that any claim of their being harmful was ultimately incorrect. It took decades to crack the shell of corporate irresponsibility, as the beast of capitalism made public health secondary to the pursuit of profitable outcomes.
One of the greatest victims of capitalism gone wild are minorities and the poor. The atrocious decision of Lorillard to distribute cigarettes to poor kids in the projects is hardly something that would be allowed in a wealthier neighborhood. Similarly, entities like the prison industrial complex and the NCAA are also allowed to operate without any degree of government regulation, primarily because nobody cares about what companies are doing to poor people. African Americans must be intelligent about how capitalism works, and the fact that corporate systems are not designed to care much about people, their health or whether they live or die. That is one of the downsides of living in America.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and the author of the bookBlack American Money To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.