Testimony in KOOL smoker's Lawsuit begins today
05/03/99
The testimony in a lawsuit filed against Brown and Williamson, the manufacturers of the KOOL Brand of cigarettes, begins today in a federal court.
The lawsuit, filed by the family of Charles E. Steele, alleges that the company was responsible for his lung cancer and his eventual death in 1995. The lawsuit claims that the manufacturers of KOOL were aware that their product was addictive and harmful, and yet presented the brand as "socially desirable, not harmful and … beneficial to smokers." Steele began smoking at the age of 15 and his addiction to cigarettes prevented him from quitting smoking. Attorney's of Shook Hardy and Bacon, the Kansas City firm representing the defendant, claim that the company's cigarettes cannot be found to have been "unreasonably dangerous" because the federal government had required warning labels on all cigarette packages since July 1, 1969. The Steele family plans to seek more than $25 million in damages.
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