The Florida Supreme Court handed a big victory to the tobacco industry this week, ruling that a $145-billion punitive-damages award in a class-action suit from sick smokers was excessive and that lower courts erred in certifying the case, the Associated Press reported July 6.

"We unanimously conclude that the punitive damages award is excessive as a matter of law," the high court ruled in upholding an appellate court's ruling in the so-called Engle case. Tobacco-company stocks immediately rose on news of the decision.

A Florida jury hit the nation's leading tobacco companies with the damages award in 2000 after finding in favor of the class of up to 700,000 Florida smokers who said the industry intentionally misled the public about the dangers of smoking. But the courts later agreed with the industry's contention that each smoker should have been required to file a separate lawsuit.

The Florida Supreme Court did reinstate a $2.85-million damages award to smoker Mary Farnan and a $4.023-million award to Angie Della Vecchia, both named parties to the class-action suit. However, a $5.8-million award to smoker Frank Amodeo was not restored because the court said the case fell outside of the statute of limitations.

The original jury decision had assessed $74 billion in punitive damages against Philip Morris, $36 billion against R.J. Reynolds, $17.5 billion against Brown and Williamson, $16.25 against Lorillard, and $790 million against Liggett Group. The case started out as a nationwide class action, but was later limited to Florida smokers by the courts. Then, the 3rd District Court of Appeal decided that it did not meet the criteria for a class action at all.