Philip Morris USA Says Florida Appeals Court Will Not Reconsider Class Action Decertification

Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal today denied a request to reconsider its decision to decertify a class of Marlboro Lights and Ultra Lights smokers who are seeking the return of their purchase price of cigarettes sold in Florida since 1971. The appeals court decertified the Hines class on Dec. 31, 2003.

In December, the Florida appeals court said that Hines could not be fairly tried as a class action because individual issues concerning facts unique to each smoker would need to be resolved. The court said, "The record supports Philip Morris' contention that the manner in which cigarettes were smoked and the smokers' reasons for choosing to smoke 'light' cigarettes could preclude an individual smoker's entitlement to damages and, thus, would be legitimate issues raised in defense."

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