A cigarette filter maker could be legally tied to a cigarette company and therefore is potentially liable for the company’s misrepresentations, a Manhattan judge has ruled in allowing a woman’s mesothelioma-related lawsuit to go to trial.
Supreme Court Justice Sherry Heitler (See Profile), in her March 3 ruling in Correnti v. Stone, 190317/12, said that the 82-year-old plaintiff, Gladys Correnti, had adequately pleaded fraud and negligent misrepresentation against the filter maker, Hollingsworth & Vose Co. She also ruled that there were issues of fact as to whether H&V had a joint venture with Lorillard Tobacco Co., even though the two companies did not have any explicit agreement to share profits and losses.
