A federal judge has awarded nearly $16 million in interest to a Norwich smoker who already had won $12 million against a tobacco company in the first such jury award in New England, The Associated Press reports.
Judge Stefan Underhill awarded about $15.7 million to Barbara Izzarelli, a Norwich resident who developed larynx cancer. She had won her case last year against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
Underhill rejected claims by R.J. Reynolds that the interest was excessive. He says interest is mandatory under the law and is designed to encourage defendants to accept reasonable settlement offers.
“R.J. Reynolds possessed the ability, at any point in the years leading up to trial, to settle this case and thereby avoid the imposition of offer of judgment interest,” Underhill wrote on Wednesday.
Izzarelli’s attorney, David Golub, says his side had offered to settle for $400,000. The interest dates back to 1999 when the lawsuit was filed.
“This is absolutely required by law and it’s the penalty that cigarette companies have to pay for refusing to settle,” Golub said. “They probably spent ten times that much, if not 100 times that much, litigating this case.”
The company will appeal the entire case, a spokesman said Thursday.
