PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Tobacco company Philip Morris USA Inc. must pay Oregon 60 percent of a $79.5 million award in a long-running lawsuit filed by the family of a Portland smoker, the state Supreme Court ruled Friday.
The cigarette maker's parent company, Altria Group Inc., said it will lower its full-year earnings expectations based on the costs tied to the payments for this and a separate case by a former smoker.
Under Oregon law, 60 percent of punitive damage awards must go to a state fund to compensate crime victims. Philip Morris paid the family its share of the judgment but contested the requirement to pay the state.
The company argued that the state released its right to collect that money with the company's master settlement agreement in 1998 with 46 states, five U.S. territories and the District of Columbia over claims about smoking.
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