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Article: SJC sends tobacco-money dispute to arbitration panel State says it is owed $60 million
- Article from:
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)
- Article date:
- April 24, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2007 The Boston Globe. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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The state Supreme Judicial Court ruled yesterday that a dispute
over whether two major tobacco companies have shortchanged
Massachusetts by some $60 million in settlement payments over the
past two years must be resolved by an arbitration panel, rather than
by a state judge.
Massachusetts has been receiving $250 million to $350 million
annually from the tobacco industry since 1998 as its share of a
landmark settlement between nearly all the states and about 40
tobacco companies to settle smoking-related lawsuits.
But R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Lorillard Tobacco Co. contend
that auditor's reports released last year and this year suggest that
they were assessed too much for 2003 and 2004.
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