Fifteen years after signing a landmark $206 billion healthcare reimbursement settlement with 46 states, tobacco companies are again facing daunting liabilities. But this time it’s Canada that is the torts danger zone.
Next year a Canadian court is expected to rule in the first smokers class action trial in Quebec, and that outcome is likely to influence other suits across the country seeking at least $150 billion collectively. The Quebec bench trial, involving claims by thousands of smokers in twin class actions, Letourneau v. Imperial Tobacco and Blais v. Imperial Tobacco, is expected to conclude in March after nearly two years, 23,000 exhibits, and more than 200 days of live testimony.
