Ill. Court Awards Summary Judgment to Cigarette Defendants on Loss of Consortium Claims

CHICAGO –– An Illinois federal court has awarded summary judgment to Lorillard Tobacco Co. and Hollingsworth & Vose Co. on a plaintiff’s loss of consortium claim, saying that since the alleged exposure pre-dated the marriage, the plaintiff could not recover loss of consortium damages.

In the Jan. 8 opinion, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois did, however, deny similar efforts made by Georgia-Pacific, saying that there was a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the decedent was exposed the year he married his wife, the plaintiff.

Marilyn Quirin asserted the claims on behalf of …