The Biggest Liability Cases of all Time

All liability cases are important to us at Spencer Law. Some cases may seem very small at first but can turn in to a major undertaking that compensates and protects many.

Here is a list of some of the largest non-automobile cases of all time.

• Philip Morris: Tobacco Products – In 2002, Philip Morris, now known as Altria Group Inc. , faced charges in a suit filed by a woman who had lung cancer and claimed that smoking cigarettes had caused her sickness and that her tobacco addiction was caused by the tobacco company’s failure to warn her of the risks of smoking. The company was ordered to pay punitive damages of a whopping $28 billion and $850,000 in compensatory damages. Philip Morris appealed the case and nine years later the amount was reduced to $28 million.

• Dow Corning: Silicone Breast Implants – In 1998, Dow Corning, a joint venture of The Dow Chemical Co. and Corning Inc., reached a settlement in which it agreed to pay $2 billion as part of a larger $4.25 billion class action suit filed by customers who claimed that their silicone breast implants were rupturing, causing injury, bodily damage, scleroderma, and death.

• Owens Corning: Asbestos Building Materials – In Dec. 1998, Owens Corning Corp. agreed to pay $1.2 billion to settle to asbestos-related product liability lawsuits claiming that its asbestos building materials caused mesothelioma cancer and death. There were 176,000 individuals involved in this product liability case.