Castano v. American Tobacco Co.
| Decision Date | 23 May 1996 |
| Docket Number | No. 95-30725,95-30725 |
| Parties | , 34 Fed.R.Serv.3d 1167 Dianne CASTANO, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. The AMERICAN TOBACCO COMPANY, et al., Defendants-Appellants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Bettye A. Barrios, Johnson, Johnson, Barrios & Yacoubian, New Orleans, LA, Melvin M. Belli, San Francisco, CA, Joseph M. Bruno, Bruno & Bruno, New Orleans, LA, Kenneth M. Carter, New Orleans, LA, Bruce C. Dean, New Orleans, LA, Wendell H. Gauthier, Daniel G. Abel, Dana Kim Cormier, Julie B. Beiser, Gauthier & Murphy, Metairie, LA, Christopher M. Guidroz, New Orleans, LA, John B. Krentel, Metairie, LA, Walter J. Leger, Jr., New Orleans, LA, Arthur R. Miller, Cambridge, MA, Ronald L. Motley, Charleston, SC, Stephen B. Murray, New Orleans, LA, Charles W. Patrick, Jr., Charleston, SC, Robert Leland Redfearn, Jr., New Orleans, LA, Michael X. St. Martin, Houma, LA, Scott McCullen Baldwin, John Browning Baldwin, Baldwin & Baldwin, Marshall, TX, Calvin Clifford Fayard, Jr., Denham Springs, LA, Robert D. Greenbaum, Philadelphia, PA, George Febiger Riess, New Orleans, LA, Peter J. Butler, Jr., Deutsch, Kerrigan & Stiles, New Orleans, LA, Andrew W. Hutton, Wichita, KS, Wells Talbot Watson, Lake Charles, LA, Richard M. Heimann, Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann, Bernstein, San Francisco, CA, Ralph Irving Knowles, Jr., Atlanta, GA, Arnold Levin, Levin, Fishbein, Sedran and Berman, Philadelphia, PA, John R. Climaco, Climaco, Climaco, Seminatore, Lefkowitz and Garofoli, Cleveland, OH, Jodi W. Flowers, Susan Nial, Ness, Motley, Loadholt, Richardson & Poole, Charleston, SC, Russ M. Herman, Herman, Herman, Katz & Cotlar, New Orleans, LA, Francis "Brother" Hare, Jr., Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton, Birmingham, AL, Gayle L. Troutwine, Michael L. Williams, Williams and Troutwine, Portlant, OR, John P. Kopesky, Sheller, Ludwig & Badey, Philadelphia, PA, Stanley M. Chesley, Waite & Schneider, Cincinnati, OH, John P. Coale, Diane E. Cooley, Coale, Allen & Van Susteren, Washington, DC, Margaret Moses Branch, Branch Law Firm, Albuquerque, NM, Perry Weitz, New York City, Louie J. Roussel, III, Metairie, LA, Edwin Rene Murray, Edwin R. Murray & Associates, New Orleans, LA, Sherrill Patricia Hondorf, Waite, Schneider, Bayless & Chesley, Cincinnati, OH, Elizabeth Joan Cabraser, Steven E. Fineman, Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Barnstein, San Francisco, CA, Dianne M. Nast, Roda & Nast, Lancaster, PA, Richard Alan Daynard, Northeastern University School of Law, Boston, MA, Jorge Ortiz-Brunet, Ortiz, Toro & Ortiz-Brunet, Hato Rey, PR, Charles Zimmerman, Zimmerman & Reed, Minneapolis, MN, Jack David Maistros, Michael V. Kelly, Cleveland, OH, Martis Ann Brachtl, Brian Campf, Goodkind, Labaton, Rudoff & Sucharow, New York City, Kenneth S. Canfield, Atlanta, GA, Louis Gottlieb, New York City, William O. Dougherty, San Diego, CA, Edwin David Hoskins, John C.M. Angelos, Office of Peter G. Angelos, Towson, MD, Daniel E. Becnel, Jr., Becnel, Landry & Becnel, Reserve, LA, for plaintiffs-appellees.
Peter J. McKenna, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, New York City, Kenneth Winston Starr, Kirkland & Ellis, Washington, DC, Paul R. Duke, Covington & Burling, Washington, DC, Thomas E. Silfen, Laura Jean Hines, Arnold & Porter, Washington, DC, Robert C. Heim, Dechert, Price & Rhoads, Philadelphia, PA, for all defendants-appellants.
Joy Goldberg Braun, Robert E. Winn, Sessions & Fishman, New Orleans, LA, Bruce
G. Sheffler, Thomas E. Bezanson, Mary T. Yelenick, Chadbourne & Parke, New York City, for American Tobacco Co. and American Brands Incorporated.
Carmelite M. Bertaut, Charles L. Chassaignac, Peter A. Feringa, Jr., Chaffe, McCall, Phillips, Toler & Sarpy, New Orleans, LA, for Lorillard, Inc., R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., Batus Holdings, Inc., and Batus, Inc.
James Thomas Newsom, Shook, Hardy & Bacon, Kansas City, MO, for Lorillard, Inc., Phillip Morris, Inc., Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., Batus Holdings, Inc., Batus, Inc., Loews Corp., Philip Morris Companies, Inc., and Lorrillard Tobacco Co.
John Mason McCollam, Steven W. Copley, Gordon, Arata, McCollam & Duplantis, New Orleans, LA, for Lorillard, Inc., Loews Corp., and Lorrillard Tobacco Co.
Gary R. Long, James A. Wilson, Shook, Hardy & Bacon, Kansas City, MO, for Lorillard, Inc., Phillip Morris, Inc., Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., Batus Holdings, Inc., Batus, Inc., Loews Corp., Philip Morris Companies, Inc., and Lorrillard Tobacco Co.
Allen Rennie Purvis, Kansas City, MO, for Phillip Morris Incorporated.
Scott Edward Delacroix, Charles F. Gay, Jr., Thomas J. Wyllie, Adams and Reese, New Orleans, LA, for Phillip Morris, Inc., and Philip Morris Companies, Inc.
Stephen H. Kupperman, Phillip A. Wittmann, Stone, Pigman, Walther, Wittmann & Hutchinson, New Orleans, LA, for RJR Nabisco, Inc. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
Dorothy Hudson Wimberly, Stone, Pigman, Walther, Wittmann & Hutchinson, New Orleans, LA, S. Ann Saucer, Powell & Associates, Dallas, TX, Paul G. Crist, Cleveland, OH, Theodore Martin Grossman, Hugh R. Whiting, Mark A. Belasic, Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue, Cleveland, OH, for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
Madeleine M. Fischer, New Orleans, LA, Joseph J. Lowenthal, Jr., John J. Weigel, Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrere & Denegre, New Orleans, LA, James V. Kearney, Mudge, Rose, Guthrie, Alexander & Ferdon, New Orleans, LA, Aaron H. Marks, Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman, New York City, for Liggett Group, Inc., Liggett & Myers, Inc., and Brooke Group, Ltd.
Francis K. Decker, Jr., New York City, for Liggett Group Incorporated.
Griffin B. Bell, Richard A. Schneider, King & Spalding, Atlanta, GA, Gordon A. Smith, Atlanta, GA, Steven D. McCormick, Michelle H. Browdy, Andrew R. McGaan, Chicago, IL, David M. Bernick, Chicago, IL, for Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp.
Charles William Schmidt, III, Christovich & Kearney, New Orleans, LA, for U.S. Tobacco Co., Loews Corp., and UST, Inc.
Alan H. Goodman, Thomas Mente Benjamin, Lemle & Kelleher, New Orleans, LA, for The Tobacco Institute, Inc.
Linda Susan Mullenix, Austin, TX, Jan S. Amundson, National Association of Manufacturers, Washington, DC, for National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) amicus curiae.
Stephen A. Bokat, Washington, DC, Robin S. Conrad, Washington, DC, for Chamber of Commerce of the U.S. amicus curiae.
John H. Beisner, Brian David Boyle, Barton Samuel Aronson, O'Melveny & Myers, Washington, DC, Hugh F. Young, Jr., Product Liability Advisory Council, Reston, VA, for Product Liability Advisory Council (PLAC) amicus curiae.
Paul D. Kamenar, Washington Legal Foundation, Washington, DC, Daniel J. Popeo, Washington, DC, Arvin Maskin, Konrad L. Cailteux, John H. Bae, David L. Yohai, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, New York City, for Washington Legal Foundation, amicus curiae.
Jack R. Bierig, Bruce M. Zessar, Sidley & Austin, Chicago, IL, for American Medical Association amicus curiae.
Gloria M. Janata, The Children's Health Fund, New York City, for Children's Health Fund amicus curiae.
Katherine J. Pohlman, Edina, MN, for National Association of School Nurses amicus curiae.
Matthew L. Myers, Asbill, Junkin & Myers, Washington, DC, for American Heart
Ass'n, American Cancer Soc., and American Lung Ass'n, amicus curiae.
Carol L. Galloway, Department of Health and Hospitals for the State of Louisiana, Baton Rouge, LA, for Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals amicus curiae.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Before SMITH, DUHE and DeMOSS, Circuit Judges.
In what may be the largest class action ever attempted in federal court, the district court in this case embarked "on a road certainly less traveled, if ever taken at all," Castano v. American Tobacco Co., 160 F.R.D. 544, 560 (E.D.La.1995) (citing EDWARD C. LATHAM, THE POETRY OF ROBERT FROST, "THE ROAD NOT TAKENN" 105 (1969)), and entered a class certification order. The court defined the class as:
(a) All nicotine-dependent persons in the United States ... who have purchased and smoked cigarettes manufactured by the defendants;
(b) the estates, representatives, and administrators of these nicotine-dependent cigarette smokers; and
(c) the spouses, children, relatives and "significant others" of these nicotine-dependent cigarette smokers as their heirs or survivors.
Id. at 560-61. The plaintiffs limit the claims to years since 1943. 1
This matter comes before us on interlocutory appeal, under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b), of the class certification order. Concluding that the district court abused its discretion in certifying the class, we reverse.
The plaintiffs 2 filed this class complaint against the defendant tobacco companies 3 and the Tobacco Institute, Inc., seeking compensation solely for the injury of nicotine addiction. The gravamen of their complaint is the novel and wholly untested theory that the defendants fraudulently failed to inform consumers that nicotine is addictive and manipulated the level of nicotine in cigarettes to sustain their addictive nature. The class complaint alleges nine causes of action: fraud and deceit, negligent misrepresentation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and negligent infliction of emotional distress, violation of state consumer protection statutes, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty, strict product liability, and redhibition pursuant to the Louisiana Civil Code.
The plaintiffs seek compensatory 4 and punitive damages 5 and attorneys' fees. 6 In addition, the plaintiffs seek equitable relief for fraud and deceit, negligent misrepresentation, violation of consumer protection statutes, and breach of express and implied warranty. The equitable remedies include a declaration that defendants are financially responsible for notifying all class members of nicotine's addictive nature, a declaration that the...
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