R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

The court denied the settlement because the couple was not married when the victim was first diagnosed in the 1990s — a time when Florida did not allow same sex marriages.

The justices upheld the decision of an appellate court that said a circuit judge improperly applied a pre-1999 version of a state punitive damages law to the case.

A smoker's estate went to the high court after the 5th District Court of Appeal overturned a decision by an Orange County jury to award $16 million, calling the amount “excessive.”

Arguments involve allegations that the tobacco industry conspired to conceal info about smoking. More broadly, companies want justices to reconsider the decision that spurred the torrent of litigation.

A jury awarded damages to the estate of Janice Hamilton, a smoker who died of lung cancer. But R.J. Reynolds argued in the appeal that a circuit judge improperly allowed a hearsay statement.

In the lawsuit, R.J. Reynolds contended that it should not have to make payments to the state related to four brands of cigarettes that it agreed to sell in 2014 to ITG Brands.

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. has gone to the Florida Supreme Court in a case about whether it is responsible for paying more than $100 million in a dispute…

The Fourth District Court of Appeal has held R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company responsible for close to $100 million dollars owed to the State of Florida. The case stems from a 1997 settlement where cigarette makers agreed to pay the state because of smoking-related health costs. Reynolds thought it had escaped liability when it sold the cigarette brands to ITG Brands.

A South Florida appellate court has upheld a $7.25 million verdict against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. in a case filed by a man who smoked two packs of…