On March 11, Minnesota Attorney General (AG) announced that two major tobacco companies, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and ITG Brands, LLC, have agreed to pay $81 million over a lawsuit brought against them by the state.
According to the lawsuit filed, problems started rising in 2015 after Reynolds transferred four cigarette brands to ITG Brands. Following the transfer, Reynolds stopped including sales and profits on the transferred brands in its settlement calculations.
As ITG Brands wasn't part of the original agreement and had not joined the agreement, the state sued both companies in 2018. A year later, the Ramsey County District Court ruled in favor of the state, and this settlement would put an end to the lawsuit over the companies' failure to make annual payments as per the state's 1998 tobacco agreement.
The AG stated that the companies cannot avoid accountability by selling off cigarette brands and the state will make sure to fight and win to see that the companies keep the commitment made to the people of Minnesota.
As per the terms of the settlement, the companies will pay for the unpaid obligations from 2015-20. ITG Brands will consider the obligation to make payments on the transferred brands going forward and the money will go into the state’s general fund.
