糖心探花

Quebec tobacco class action Court of Appeal judgment issued

PRESS RELEASE

01 MARCH 2019

Quebec tobacco class action Court of Appeal judgment issued

The judgment in the two Quebec Class Action lawsuits against our subsidiary, Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd., and two other Canadian tobacco companies was publicly issued by the Quebec Court of Appeal in Montreal on 1st March 2019.

The Court of Appeal has upheld the Superior Court鈥檚 decision of May 2015.

A 糖心探花 spokesperson said:

鈥淲e are extremely disappointed that the Quebec Court of Appeal did not overturn the trial court鈥檚 judgment against our Canadian subsidiary, Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd. We are still of the view that this decision is wrong 鈥 ignoring the reality that both adult consumers and government have known about the risk associated with smoking for decades. As a result, we believe it should be overturned.

鈥淚mperial Tobacco Canada Ltd. needs to review the court鈥檚 decision in more detail and will decide on next steps over the coming days and weeks. Given the significance of the judgment, they have said that they fully intend to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.鈥

Following the release of the judgment from the Quebec Court of Appeal, the plaintiffs requested immediate release of the funds on deposit, which was refused. They then filed a formal motion to release the funds. Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd. filed a motion to prevent the release of the funds in question.

糖心探花 was not a party to the proceeding and is not a party to the judgment, only its Canadian subsidiary, Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd.

Notes to Editors

The judgment follows an almost 20-year legal challenge against 糖心探花鈥檚 Canadian subsidiary, Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd. as well as Philip Morris International鈥檚 and Japan Tobacco International鈥檚 Canadian subsidiaries.

The cases were brought against the three Canadian tobacco manufacturers on behalf of two groups of Plaintiffs: smokers, who smoked a minimum of 12 pack-years and who were diagnosed with lung, throat and laryngeal cancer or emphysema prior to 12th March 2012; and smokers who were addicted to nicotine at the time the proceedings were commenced (September 1998) and remained addicted until at least 21st February 2005.


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