Scalia Stays Big Tobacco Award, Could Limit Class Actions

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has intervened in a $270 million award by a Louisiana court against tobacco companies and suggested the high court will likely reverse the decision, ConsumerAffairs.com reported Sept. 29.

After the Louisiana state court's verdict in a class action lawsuit against tobacco companies, the companies requested a stay of the verdict. Scalia granted the stay in his role as a judge on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, signaling a probable review of the case by the U.S. Supreme Court. He wrote in his opinion that it was “significantly possible that the judgment … will be reversed.”

The suit claimed that tobacco companies misled Louisiana smokers about the harmful effects of nicotine. The Louisiana court agreed and awarded smokers $270 million — which was to be used to set up smoking cessation programs. No individual smokers would have received money from the award. 

Scalia ruled that the lower court had violated many aspects of due process. In particular, he stated that the Louisiana court had inappropriately interpreted a state fraud law that could have required that each plaintiff in the class action suit be interviewed by attorneys for the tobacco companies. 

ConsumerAffairs.com speculated that class action lawsuits as a whole may be limited if the Supreme Court takes the case and reverses the verdict against the tobacco companies.

Scalia's five-page opinion (PDF), dated Sept. 24, 2010, can be found online.