In a historic judgment rendered June 1, 2015 after battle that lasted almost 17 years, Justice Brian Riordan of the Quebec Superior Court ordered the tobacco companies Imperial Tobacco, Rothmans, Benson & Hedges, and JTI-MacDonald to pay over $15 billion in punitive and moral damages to almost 100 000 Quebec smokers and ex-smokers who developed lung cancer, throat cancer or emphysema. Justice Riordan found that the three companies had lied to the public and the governments for close to 50 years, putting their profits ahead of the lives and health of their customers. The trial, which lasted for more than two and a half years, is the most important trial in the history of Canadian class actions for its length as well as the extent of the evidence produced and the amount of the award.
