SLAVES CASE
August 1st, 2002
BY PHILIP FINE
CIGARETTE companies are bracing themselves for a legal assault from the distant past, by American descendants of black slaves. They filed lawsuits in New York and California on September 3, demanding that 12 corporations pay back profits reaped from the work of their enslaved ancestors. Among the companies named are tobacco-makers R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc., Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., and Liggett Group Inc., now indirectly owned by Vector Group Ltd, as well as tobacco and insurance conglomerate Loews Corp. The suits were filed ...
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