Retailer Sued in Tobacco Case

By George Anderson

Martin & Bayley Inc., the parent company of the 150-store Huck’s Food and Fuel convenience chain, is being sued along with Philip Morris for deceptively scheming to get consumers to buy light cigarettes.

The law firm of Korein Tillery of Belleville, Ill. filed seven lawsuits in the Madison County Circuit Court with charges included violations of the state’s Consumer Fraud Act and wrongful death.

According to the seven suit, Huck’s “engaged in misrepresentations, unlawful schemes and conduct that induced the plaintiffs’ to purchase cigarettes through unfair and deceptive acts.”

The intent of Huck’s and Philip Morris, according to the filing, was to suggest light cigarettes were somehow safer than the regular variety. This is not supported, it claims, by the scientific evidence.

Moderator’s Comment: Should a retailer be held legally responsible for selling a product it knows may cause serious physical harm to the person who uses
it?

It doesn’t come as any surprise that our answer to this question is a flat out no. We will admit, however, that it does raise some interesting philosophical
questions.

For example, the courts have held that a bar or even hosts of a party can be held responsible for the harm caused by a drunk driver to whom they served
alcohol.

In the case of the bar, the product being sold is legal. What then is the distinction when knowingly harmful but fully legal goods are sold through a retail
store — the time between the use of the product and the damage its use causes to the consumer and/or others? –
George Anderson – Moderator

• Lung cancer victims and smokers go after retailer Huck’s – Madison County Record