BIGMIKE
Premium
join:2002-06-07
Westminster, CA
| reply to J Sun
Re: Calif. sues carmakers over global warming
said by J Sun  :i think its like sueing mcdonalds for making fat people, blame the parents plus toyota and GM are making steps towards making lower emission cars, SULEV etc. Last month the California state legislature approved a measure to force utilities to cut emissions, and the state has sued the federal government for failing to address the effects of global warming.
Suit cases: Guns, cigarettes and burgers
Over the last decade, some of the world's biggest businesses have found themselves on the receiving end of lawsuits in America.
Guns
In 1998, New Orleans sued gunmakers to force them to cover police and hospital costs incurred by their weapons. It argued that the firearms industry was liable because it made "unreasonably dangerous" products which lacked the safety mechanisms necessary to ensure only their owners could use them. A fortnight later, Chicago announced it had decided to sue 22 firearms manufacturers and distributors for flooding the local market with guns which they knew were likely to fall into criminal hands.
It filed a suit for $433-million, claiming that the industry constituted a public nuisance. The gun lobby denied liability, saying that most guns were sold legally, making it difficult to establish a chain of culpability. In January 2003, the families of two men killed by the Washington snipers sued the shop where the suspects bought their high-powered rifle.
Tobacco
In the late 1990s, thousands of smokers from Florida brought a class action against America's five biggest cigarette makers for the damage to their health. The case was brought under the name of Howard Engle, an 86-year-old paediatrician with respiratory diseases and lymphoma. In 2000, a jury decided the tobacco companies should pay a punitive award of $145-billion. But the state's appeal court decided that Florida's smokers should not have been allowed to bring a class action. In July, Florida's supreme court refused to reinstate the damages.
Fast food
In July 2002, Caesar Barber from New York sued McDonald's, Wendy's, KFC and Burger King for damages, claiming their food had made him obese. A month later, the parents of two teenagers from New York sued McDonald's, alleging the chain was responsible for their health problems. A US district judge dismissed the cases ruling the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate a clear link between their problems and McDonald's. - Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 »www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?ar···al_news/
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