MONTREAL — A class-action lawsuit that targets three Canadian tobacco manufacturers for nearly $20 billion has ended after nearly three years of testimony.
Closing arguments were held in Montreal today and Quebec Superior Court Justice Brian Riordan took the case under deliberation.
While the trial began in March 2012, the legal proceedings actually date back to 1998.
The plaintiffs include an estimated one million Quebecers who argue the companies are liable because they knew they were putting out a harmful product and hid the health effects of tobacco.
The suit involves separate groups of plaintiffs — some who became seriously ill from smoking and others who said they couldn't quit.
The defendants are Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd.; Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc.; and JTI-Macdonald. They argue the dangerous health effects of tobacco have been common knowledge for decades and that there was no conspiracy to conceal anything.
Initially the lawsuit was valued at $27 billion and included 1.8 million Quebecers, but a 2013 ruling changed the definition of who could qualify.
