In 2000, the world's largest video chain, Blockbuster Inc., was subject to a class action lawsuit filed by a Dallas personal injury lawyer over "excessive late viewing fees." The company, in an attempt to avoid prolonged negative publicity, offered its customers coupons up to $18 in total value. The attorney, on the other hand, received nearly $10 million.
Since that time we've seen Big Soft Drink sued over tooth decay, Big Fast Food sued over the "addictive nature" of its products and Big Hooter's sued over skimpy uniforms and risqué advertisements. Each time it was done in the name of the American public under class action law.
Class action lawsuits emerged in the 1980s as a result of increased mass marketing, which heightened the American population's exposure to potentially harmful products and substances. Since then, nearly every major sector of the U.S. economy has been hit by a class action lawsuit, pushing the cost of the U.S. tort system to over $160 billion .
After decades of litigation in the name of public health, where is the payoff? According to the Center for Disease Control, there is none.
According to their findings, in the decades that followed the boom in corporate litigation suits, the number of accidental deaths within the United States has remained virtually unchanged. In 1990, there were 17.7 non-vehicle related deaths per 100,000 people; by 2000 the number was still 17.7.
While our safety may be no different, the same cannot be said for the demeanor of America. Over these years we've become, in many ways, litigation-crazed. Parents sue teachers over their child being cut from sports and cheer squads. We even have suits against Penthouse for the "mental hurt" caused when a pictorial isn't revealing enough. "God" is now suing Michigan, claiming that as the "Messiah," his armed robbery of Taco Bell was not a crime since he owns everything. The fact is huge monetary rewards have made little impact.
Part of the problem is that the courts can hand out money, but they cannot regulate how it is spent. That power resides with the legislature. Because of this, lawsuit money is being used for anything but the basis for which it was rewarded. A prime example of this is the landmark tobacco lawsuits of the 1990s.
When litigants won a $246 billion settlement against "Big Tobacco," it was heralded as a win for America. Yet, according to the CDC, the mortality rates for smoking related illness have actually increased in the period between 1990 and 2000 (from 78.2 to 102.1deaths per 100,000 people), and tobacco use among American teens is up.
Tobacco winnings were to be used to educate the masses and stop America's addiction, but tobacco money is being used for everything but tobacco programs.
Two states are using the funds to lower local taxes, 23 states are putting the money into the state's general fund, 10 states are using it to improve state infrastructures and, most ironically, seven states are using the tobacco settlement to subsidize tobacco farming. Less than 40 percent of the tobacco money is being used for its intended purpose, to reimburse state healthcare losses associated with tobacco-related illness. Unfortunately, what happened with the tobacco settlement happens each and every day on a much smaller scale.
Civil litigation does not stop accidents and it typically does not improve safety. Civil litigation, unlike its criminal counterpart, is about two things: greed and revenge. It is about grieving mothers trying to make someone pay for their loss; it is about obese men trying to make a buck. What it is not about is improved safety and corporate accountability, and unless sweeping tort reform is quickly enacted, it never will be.
Josh Billar is a chemical engineering graduate. Reach him at joshua.billar@asu.edu.
