Trial Magazine

Louis Summerlin began smoking when he was a teenager in the late 1950s. He became addicted to cigarettes—particularly the Kool and Salem varieties and, after the mid-1980s, Marlboro Menthol—and smoked approximately two packs a day before quitting in 2009. Summerlin also worked as a brake mechanic from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, which exposed him to asbestos-containing products, such as brakes and brake liners, in addition to asbestos dust.

Summerlin was diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer at 73. He underwent chemotherapy, which caused him to suffer numerous side effects, including brittle bones. He died of his disease less than a year later. He is survived by his wife and adult child.

Summerlin’s wife, individually and on behalf of his estate, sued R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and others, alleging breach of the implied warranty of merchantability—defective design and inadequate warning—negligence, and concealment of material facts about the dangers of smoking. The plaintiffs also sued four companies that manufactured and sold the asbestos-containing products to which Summerlin was exposed, alleging negligence and breach of warranty.

The asbestos defendants settled before trial for undisclosed amounts. The jury awarded $43.1 million against R.J. ­Reynolds, which included $5.3 million for pain and suffering and $30 million in punitive damages.

Citation: Summerlin v. Philip Morris USA Inc., No. 15-5255 (Mass. Super. Ct. Middlesex Cnty. Oct. 12, 2018).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ members Jerome H. Block, Robert Ellis, and Amber Long, all of New York City; and AAJ members Michael Shepard, Michael McCann, and Erika O’Donnell, all of Boston.