A Florida state appeals court vacated a USD 79.2 million (EUR 60.5 million) judgement against RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co. on grounds the award was excessive, the Winston-Salem Journal reported.

Ruling in a so called Engle progeny case, the court said the tobacco company bore a degree of liability in the 1996 death of a 78-year-old man from lung cancer. The vacated award was comprised of USD 7.2 million in compensatory and USD 72 million in punitive damages, the North Carolina-based newspaper reported on its website on 10 April.
The progeny case stems from a 2006 Florida Supreme Court decision that decertified a class action but allowed former class-action members in the suit originally brought by Howard Engle, a deceased Florida doctor, to file individual claims, and rely on general findings from the first class action. (pi)