Secondhand Smoke Not Aggravating FA's Asthma: Court | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-05.20.24

Airborne-NextGen-05.21.24

Airborne-Unlimited-05.15.24 Airborne-AffordableFlyers-05.16.24

Airborne-Unlimited-05.17.24

Wed, Feb 12, 2003

Secondhand Smoke Not Aggravating FA's Asthma: Court

R.J. Reynolds Wins 'Seal' Flight Attendant Case In Florida

A Miami jury found last week that R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and other cigarette manufacturers are not liable in the Seal case, a secondhand smoke suit filed by James A. Seal, a United Airlines flight attendant. Seal is the sixth case of its type to go to trial since 2001. Juries ruled in favor of the tobacco industry in the Fontana, Janoff and Tucker cases, but ruled against the industry in the French case. The Quiepo case ended in a mistrial in May 2002 and was subsequently dismissed.

"After hearing all the facts in this case, the six-member jury unanimously agreed that Mr. Seal's exposure to secondhand smoke in airplanes did not aggravate his asthma," said R. Dal Burton, Reynolds Tobacco's attorney in the case. "In fact," he added, "credible evidence does not exist to show that secondhand smoke aggravated Mr. Seal's asthma. "This victory was particularly satisfying because an order that was entered in these flight-attendant cases effectively and wrongfully prevented us from fully defending ourselves," Burton said. "Despite this handicap, we prevailed."

Seal is a flight attendant who claimed that his underlying asthma was aggravated as a result of his exposure to secondhand smoke in aircraft cabins from 1973 until the present, while working as a flight attendant for United Airlines.

Seal is among approximately 2,800 suits filed by individuals seeking compensatory damages for injuries allegedly caused by occupational exposure to secondhand smoke as a flight attendant. These suits stem from the Broin class-action suit, which was settled in 1997.

Other defendants in the Seal case included Philip Morris USA Inc., Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation, Lorillard Tobacco Company and the American Tobacco Company.

FMI: www.rjrt.com (Look under Tobacco Issues, Litigation, Case Backgrounders, Seal Backgrounder.)

Advertisement

More News

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (05.19.24): Back-Taxi

Back-Taxi A term used by air traffic controllers to taxi an aircraft on the runway opposite to the traffic flow. The aircraft may be instructed to back-taxi to the beginning of the>[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (05.19.24)

“Our WAI members across the nation are grateful for the service and sacrifice of the formidable group of WASP who served so honorably during World War II. This group of brave>[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (05.20.24)

“Many aspiring pilots fall short of their goal due to the cost of flight training, so EAA working with the Ray Foundation helps relieve some of the financial pressure and mak>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (05.20.24): Blind Speed

Blind Speed The rate of departure or closing of a target relative to the radar antenna at which cancellation of the primary radar target by moving target indicator (MTI) circuits i>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (05.20.24)

Aero Linx: International Airline Medical Association (IAMA) The International Airline Medical Association, formerly known as the Airline Medical Directors Association (AMDA) was fo>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2024 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC