Tobacco Class Action "Light" Certified

US District Judge Jack Weinstein certified a class action comprised of tens of millions of smokers of "light" cigarettes going back more than thirty years.  Unlike other unsuccessful tobacco class actions in which the plaintiffs seek damages for personal injuries and death, in this suit the plaintiffs seek damages based on the difference in value between the cigarettes they purchased and the allegedly safer cigarettes they thought they purchased.  The suit alleges that the tobacco companies perpetrated a fraud of massive scale on the American public when it marketed "light" cigarettes as a safer alternative, when it knew that "light" cigarettes in fact were no safer than the others.  Presumably, the plaintiffs believe they can prove that they would have paid less for the "light" cigarettes if they had known the health risks were the same, or, put another way, that the "light" cigarettes had more value to them.  They contend that surveys indicate that the vast majority of "light" cigarette smokers chose the products for health reasons.  Defendants contend that individual smokers choose their cigarettes for reasons so numerous that class action status is not appropriate.  While Judge Weinstein expressed skepticism about the plaintiffs' damages theory, he nonetheless concluded that the case should proceed to trial (set for January) as a class action.  Damages are estimated to be about $200 billion, and potentially tripled to $600 billion because the case was filed under the RICO statute.  An appeal of the class certification order is sure to follow.  A copy of the 540 page opinion and order can be found here.