Roysdon v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

• Citation: 849 F.2d 230
• Decision Date: 01 August 1988
• Docket Number: No. 86-5072,86-5072
• Parties: Prod.Liab.Rep.(CCH)P 11,823 Floyd F. ROYSDON, and wife, Ruth Ann Roysdon, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. R.J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO COMPANY, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (6th Circuit)

Page 230

849 F.2d 230

Prod.Liab.Rep.(CCH)P 11,823

Floyd F. ROYSDON, and wife, Ruth Ann Roysdon, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. R.J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO COMPANY, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 86-5072.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued Jan. 30, 1987.

Decided June 14, 1988.

Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied Aug. 1, 1988.

J.D. Lee (argued), Knoxville, Tenn., Ted Q. Wilson, Oneida, Tenn., for plaintiffs-appellants.

Ray H. Moseley, Chattanooga, Tenn., Robert R. Campbell, Hodges, Doughty & Carson, Knoxville, Tenn., John L. Strauch (argued), Paul G. Crist, Jones, Day, Reavis & Paque, Cleveland, Ohio, for defendant-appellee.

Before: RYAN and BOGGS, Circuit Judges; and BROWN, Senior Circuit Judge.

RYAN, Circuit Judge.

Floyd Roysdon and his wife appeal from the district court's dismissal of their failure to warn claim against R.J. Reynolds Company (Reynolds), and grant of Reynolds' motion for directed verdict with respect to their products liability claim based on allegations that defendant's cigarettes are "defective and unreasonably dangerous." Roysdon v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 623 F.Supp. 1189 (E.D.Tenn.1985). We affirm the district court's holding that the "failure to warn" claim is preempted by the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act, 15 U.S.C. Secs. 1331-1341, and we affirm that court's order of a directed verdict with respect to the "defective and unreasonably dangerous" claim.

I.

Floyd Roysdon began smoking "Camel" cigarettes, a product of the R.J. Reynolds Company, in 1946. In the 1960's, he switched brands to "Winston," another Reynolds product. Due to his addiction, Mr. Roysdon has been unable to stop smoking. On November 30, 1983, Mr. Roysdon had surgery on his left foot. Two surgical incisions on the foot failed to heal due to severe peripheral atherosclerotic vascular disease, and Mr. Roysdon's left leg had to be amputated below the knee. At the trial, there was testimony linking smoking to vascular disease and Mr. Roysdon's doctors testified that his vascular disease was caused by his smoking.

Thereafter, Mr. Roysdon and his wife filed this products liability action against Reynolds ¹ on July 5, 1984, in a Tennessee Circuit Court. The case was removed to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1441(a), based on the existence of diversity jurisdiction. The Roysdons asserted two claims: that Reynolds failed to adequately warn Roysdon of the risk of vascular disease, and that Reynolds cigarettes are defective and unreasonably dangerous. Pursuant to Tenn.Code Ann. Sec. 29-28-103, the district court limited the Roysdons' recovery to harm allegedly caused by Mr. Roysdon's smoking of Reynolds cigarettes within the ten years immediately preceding commencement of this suit (1974-1984). The district court dismissed the inadequate warning claim before trial. After the close of plaintiffs' proof, the district court granted Reynolds' motion for a directed verdict on the "defective and unreasonably dangerous" issue because the court found that the Roysdons had failed to establish a jury case as to whether the cigarettes were unreasonably dangerous.

II.

We address first our determination that the claim based on Reynolds' failure to adequately warn Roysdon is preempted by the Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act, 15 U.S.C. Secs. 1331-1341 (1982). It is undisputed that Reynolds has fully complied with the provisions of that Act at all relevant times. The Roysdons contend, however, that despite this compliance, Reynolds may be liable under state law for the failure to adequately warn Mr. Roysdon of the health risks presented by smoking.

A. The Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act

The Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act, originally enacted in 1965 established the requirement of mandatory warning labels for cigarette packages. ² The Act contains an express statement of its purposes:

It is the policy of the Congress, and the purpose of this chapter, to establish a comprehensive Federal program to deal with cigarette labeling and advertising with respect to any relationship between smoking and health, whereby--

(1) the public may be adequately informed that cigarette smoking may be hazardous to health by inclusion of a warning to that effect on each package of cigarettes; and

(2) commerce and the national economy may be (A) protected to the maximum extent consistent with this declared policy and (B) not impeded by diverse, nonuniform, and confusing cigarette labeling and advertising regulations with respect to any relationship between smoking and health.

15 U.S.C. Sec. 1331 (1982). ³

Additionally, the Act contains a preemption section:

(a) No statement relating to smoking and health, other than the statement required by section 1333 of this title, shall be required on any cigarette package.

(b) No requirement or prohibition based on smoking and health shall be imposed under State law with respect to the advertising or promotion of any cigarettes the packages of which are labeled in conformity with the provisions of this chapter.

15 U.S.C. Sec. 1334 (1982). ⁴

B. Preemption

The Supremacy Clause of Article VI of the Constitution provides that the Constitution or laws of the United States can preempt state law. The key inquiry to be made when it is claimed that a federal statute has preemptive effect is "whether Congress intended that federal regulation supersede state law." Louisiana Public Serv. Comm'n v. Federal Communications Comm'n, 476 U.S. 355, 369, 106 S.Ct. 1890, 1899, 90 L.Ed.2d 369, 382 (1986). Congressional intent to preempt state law may be ascertained in several ways.

First, when acting within constitutional limits, Congress is empowered to pre-empt state law by so stating in express terms. E.g., Jones v. Rath Packing Co., 430 U.S. 519, 525, 97 S.Ct. 1305, 1309, 51 L.Ed.2d 604 (1977). Second, congressional intent to pre-empt state law in a particular area may be inferred where the scheme of federal regulation is sufficiently comprehensive to make reasonable the inference that Congress "left no room" for supplementary state regulation. Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp., 331 U.S. 218, 230, 67 S.Ct. 1146, 1152, 91 L.Ed. 1447 (1947).

....

As a third alternative, in those areas where Congress has not completely displaced state regulation, federal law may nonetheless pre-empt state law to the extent it actually conflicts with federal law. Such a conflict occurs either because "compliance with both federal and state regulations is a physical impossibility," Florida Lime & Avocado Growers, Inc. v. Paul, 373 U.S. 132, 142-143, 83 S.Ct. 1210, 1217, 10 L.Ed.2d 248 (1963), or because the state law stands "as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives of Congress." Hines v. Davidowitz, 312 U.S. 52, 67, 61 S.Ct. 399, 404, 85 L.Ed. 581 (1941). See Michigan Canners & Freezers Assn., Inc. v. Agricultural Marketing and Bargaining Bd., 467 U.S. 461, 478, 104 S.Ct. 2518, 2528, 81 L.Ed.2d 399 (1984); Fidelity Federal Savings & Loan Assn. v. De la Cuesta, 458 U.S. 141, 156, 102 S.Ct. 3014, 3024, 73 L.Ed.2d 664 (1982). Nevertheless, pre-emption is not to be lightly presumed. See Maryland v. Louisiana, 451 U.S. 725, 746, 101 S.Ct. 2114, 2128, 68 L.Ed.2d 576 (1981).

California Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass'n v. Guerra, 479 U.S. 272, ----, 107 S.Ct. 683, 689, 93 L.Ed.2d 613, 623-24 (1987).

First, we agree with the other circuits that have addressed this issue that Sec. 1334 of the Act does not expressly preempt state law claims. Cipollone v. Liggett Group, Inc., 789 F.2d 181, 185-86 (3rd Cir.1986), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 107 S.Ct. 907, 93 L.Ed.2d 857 (1987); Palmer v. Liggett Group, Inc., 825 F.2d 620, 625 (1st Cir.1987). While keeping in mind the presumption that "Congress did not intend to displace state law," e.g., Maryland v. Louisiana, 451 U.S. 725, 746, 101 S.Ct. 2114, 2129, 68 L.Ed.2d 576 (1981), we look to the language of Sec. 1334. We find no language indicating congressional intent to displace state common law claims. Accord Cipollone, 789 F.2d at 185; Palmer, 825 F.2d at 625. Like the First Circuit, we find no need to delve into the meaning of the lack of an explicit clause preempting state law claims or expressly preserving such claims. Palmer, 825 F.2d at 625. Therefore, we now turn our focus to the doctrine of implied preemption.

Inasmuch as we find the Roysdons' failure to warn claim under state law implicitly preempted because it "actually conflicts" with the Act, we will not address whether it is preempted because Congress has "occupied the field." ⁵ As we have observed, a state regulation may actually conflict with a federal provision if it is a "physical impossibility to comply with both," Florida Lime & Avocado Growers, Inc. v. Paul, 373 U.S. 132, 142-43, 83 S.Ct. 1210, 1217, 10 L.Ed.2d 248 (1963), or if the state law is "an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives of Congress." Hines v. Davidowitz, 312 U.S. 52, 67, 61 S.Ct. 399, 404, 85 L.Ed. 581 (1941). Although it would not be a physical impossibility for the cigarette companies to provide additional warnings beyond those required by the Act, we agree with the Third Circuit that

claims related to smoking and health that result in liability for noncompliance with warning, advertisement, and promotion obligations other than those prescribed in the Act have the effect of tipping the Act's balance of purposes and therefore actually conflict with the Act.

Cipollone, 789 F.2d at 187.

The Act's purposes, as expressed in Sec. 1331, are to insure that: "[t]he public may be adequately informed that cigarette smoking may be hazardous to health ...," and that "commerce and the national economy may be (A) protected to the maximum extent consistent with this declared policy and (B) not impeded by diverse, nonuniform, and confusing cigarette labeling and advertising...