In R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. Prentice, Case No. SC20-291 (Fla. Mar. 17, 2022), the Florida Supreme Court resolved a district court split over what proof is required to prevail on the reliance element of fraudulent concealment and conspiracy claims made against defendant tobacco companies in Engle progeny suits. In the underlying case, John Price got chronic obstructive pulmonary disease after smoking multiple packs of R.J. Reynolds cigarettes a day for most of his adult life. Price sued R.J. Reynolds on various theories; after Price’s death, Linda Prentice maintained the lawsuit as a wrongful death action. After Prentice won at trial, R.J. Reynolds appealed to the First District regarding a jury instruction given about the reliance element of Prentice’s claims. The First District agreed with R.J. Reynolds that the jury instruction given was prejudicial error because neither the jury instruction nor any other instruction informed the jury of the need to find that Price had actually relied on a statement made by the defendant. Prentice invoked the Florida Supreme Court’s discretionary jurisdiction on the basis of a conflict between the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Districts regarding whether reliance on a statement by the defendant tobacco company is necessary to prevail on Engle progeny claims.
The Institute filed an amicus curiae brief in support of R.J. Reynolds in the Florida Supreme Court, and also took the opportunity to challenge the preclusive effect applied by the Court to certain Engle findings.
The Florida Supreme Court sided with R.J. Reynolds without endorsing prior decisions giving preclusive effect to Engle findings. Specifically, the Court held that an Engle progeny plaintiff must prove reliance on a statement that was made by an Engle defendant (for a concealment claim) or co-conspirator (for a conspiracy claim) and that concealed or omitted information about the health effects or addictiveness of smoking cigarettes.
The Institute was represented by William W. Large and Christine R. Davis and Joseph H. Lang, Jr., of Carlton Fields, P.A.