A Brazilian judge has ordered Souza Cruz, a subsidiary of BAT Industries, the UK-based tobacco group, to pay damages of R$ 90000 (US$ 82500) to the family of a man who died in 1995 of an alledgedly smoking-related condition

The ruling, which BAT believes to be the first of its kind outside the US, was made in a Rio de Janeiro civil court and is likely to lead to a string of similar actions in Brazil. It will also be scrutinised by plaintiffs in other countries. The judge ruled smoking was “the determinant cause of the heart attack followed by death” of Nelson Cabral Alves, a smoker from the age of 18 who consumed 80 cigarettes a day before he died at 41. He allegedly smoked three packs of cigarettes, all produced in Brazil by Souza Cruz.
An executive of BAT in London said the company would appeal, “It looks like a very odd decision,” he said. “It is one where the only evidence was the deceased’s death certificate, which said he was a smoker.” Mr Jorge Beja, lawyer for the deceased’s family, agreed that the death certificate had been the deciding factor in the case. The Alves family had originally claimed damages of R$ 1.5 million and will appeal against the size of the award, which also includes payment of a monthly pension of R$ 800 to his widow and two children.
Mr Luis Roberto Barroso, lawyer of Souza Cruz, said the ruling was based on a “number of serious errors of fact”. He said that there was no proof of the cause of death, and his family had a history of heart trouble.
A judge in the north-eastern city of Fortaleza ruled in favour of Souza Cruz in a claim for damages brought by an ex-smoker.