The Watson v. Philip Morris USA Inc. started as a case in the Arkansas state court system. Lisa Watson and Loretta Lawson sued the Philip Morris Company in a class action suit with allegations that Philip Morris's light cigarettes delivered too much nicotine to be advertised as light cigarettes, and thus the company had violated the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. U.S. law currently states that federal officers have to be tried in federal courts, not state courts. In Watson v. Philip Morris USA Inc., the Philip Morris Company claimed that they should be considered a federal officer under this law because they act under the direct control of the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) as it relates to their marketing and selling of light cigarettes.
This decision to remove the case from the local courts and put it in the federal courts was appealed by the plaintiff, and this appeal made its way to the Supreme Court. The decision on the case was not being appealed to the Supreme Court. The appeal dealt with whether or not the Philip Morris Company could be tried exclusively in federal courts.
On June 11, 2007, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the Watson v. Philip Morris case did not have to be tried in federal courts, in spite of the fact that the company works under the governing power of the FTC. This has long been a point of contention in such cases, and the Supreme Court has clarified that private companies are not considered federal officers, even if they operate under a federal organization, such as the FTC. The case was remanded to the state courts to be tried further.
Click here to learn more about Thomas Stagg of Simmons, Jannace & Stagg