British American Tobacco Fined $250,000 for Violation of Court Order

U.S. District Court Judge Gladys Kessler on Monday fined British American Tobacco $250,000 for an "egregious lack of candor" related to the violation of an earlier court order in the Department of Justice lawsuit against the tobacco industry, the AP/New York Times reports (AP/New York Times, 3/29).

The $280 billion lawsuit alleges that Brown & Williamson, Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds, Lorillard Tobacco and the Liggett Group misled consumers about the health risks of smoking and directed multibillion-dollar promotional campaigns at children in violation of the Civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (California Healthline, 11/18/04).

The fine against BAT is related to the company's efforts to withhold from DOJ a "potentially damaging" memorandum, the Times reports. DOJ has sought the memo for two years (AP/New York Times, 3/29). The memo allegedly outlines efforts by an Australian subsidiary of BAT to hide the health risks of smoking and includes a plan to destroy evidence. The memo was written in 1990 by Andrew Foyle, a partner at a British law firm that represented BAT, which recently sold Brown & Williamson to Reynolds. DOJ attorneys have not reviewed the memo but have knowledge of the general contents because an Australian appeals court decision in 2002 quoted the document (California Healthline, 11/18/04).

BAT officials admitted last month that the company violated a court order to provide an executive who would be able to answer questions about the memo (AP/New York Times, 3/29).