Adamo v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp.

I respectfully dissent. Plaintiffs met their burden of establishing that defendants were able to design a safer cigarette that maintained the functionality of a regular cigarette (see Voss v Black & Decker Mfg. Co., 59 NY2d 102, 109 [1983]). The majority concludes, however, that plaintiffs were required “to prove that smokers find light cigarettes as satisfying as regular cigarettes,” and were further obligated to prove that cigarettes serve some function other than to provide plea*552sure (majority op at 550). In my view, this language improperly shifts the burden of proving consumer…