Three cigarette companies in court appealing 2015 landmark Quebec judgment
MONTREAL — After being on the losing end of a $15-billion ruling in 2015, three major tobacco firms began their appeal on Monday in an effort to overturn the historic verdict.
Lawyers for Imperial Tobacco, JTI-Macdonald and Rothmans-Benson & Hedges began arguments in front of Quebec’s Court of Appeal during hearings that are expected to last until Friday.
In June 2015, Superior Court Justice Brian Riordan ruled that the tobacco companies chose profits over the health of their customers in an lengthy 276-page ruling in a case that what was believed to be the biggest class action in Canada’s history.
The companies were targeted by two separate lawsuits heard at the same time, which were filed in 1998 and only argued in court in 2012.