Merrell Williams, Jr. died in Ocean Springs, Mississippi on November 18, 2013. Williams was a controversial whistleblower who was one of the main reasons many of the dangerous or fraudulent actions of the big tobacco industry were brought to light, but the manner in which this came about was the subject of great debate.
Williams was a paralegal with a law firm in Louisville, Kentucky, Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs, which did a lot of legal work for Brown & Williamson Tobacco Company. In 1994, Williams leaked a very large amount of documents that he previously had copied, which resulted in lawsuits that ultimately culminated in the tobacco industry paying billions of dollars into settlements and funds to cover the medical problems suffered by smokers. The files that Williams leaked clearly demonstrated the tobacco industry’s awareness that the cigarettes did in fact cause cancer, that nicotine was addictive, and that there were marketing campaigns aimed at getting children hooked on cigarettes.
The controversy that surrounded the leaking of the tobacco companies records related to the fact that he was acting as a paralegal with Brown & Williamson as a client, and the tobacco company accused Williams of a breach of attorney-client privilege. In addition, there was evidence that an anti-tobacco attorney who was bringing suits against the tobacco industry had paid for a house, a boat, two vehicles, and a job that paid $3,000 per month, but did not require any attendance at an office, for Williams. Williams claimed that these were actually the result of loans that he was repaying.
When Williams joined the Louisville law firm, he was one of a number of employees who was tasked with reviewing thousands of pages of documents in order to craft defenses to the many tobacco-related personal injury lawsuits that were being brought against tobacco companies. Williams saw documents demonstrating that the tobacco companies had scientific research from their own scientists detailing the dangers of smoking. The same year that he joined the firm, 1988, Williams began taking documents out of the firm hidden under his clothing. He would copy them at different copy stores and then return the originals. From 1990 to 1992, Williams tried to get law enforcement agencies or anti-tobacco groups interested in the documents he had taken. After being laid off in 1992, he notified the law firm of his intention to bring litigation against the firm based on job stress-related illness, but the tobacco company of Brown & Williamson sued him first on the basis of theft and breach of contract. Williams defended his removal of the documents on the basis that they revealed criminal activity.
An attorney in Florida eventually became interested in the documents in 1994. This attorney was the one who provided the house and other high-value items to Williams. Although the admissibility of the documents was debated, they ended up in court cases and in public hands. The case against the tobacco industry was significantly bolstered when Jeffrey Wigand, who had been an executive with Brown & Williamson, went public with company secrets in 1996. The tobacco settlement in 1998 resulted in the top four tobacco companies agreeing to cover tobacco-related medical bills for 46 states over 25 years.
Regardless of the controversy that surrounds his disclosure of documents, Merrell Williams, Jr. was a whistleblower whose actions contributed significantly to the tobacco companies being held responsible for their wrongdoing.
Barrett Law PLLC Advocates on Behalf of Whistleblowers
The decision to take action to expose injustices despite possible repercussions is a very brave one that deserves the best possible legal support. The hard-working Mississippi Qui Tam/Whistleblower Attorneys at Barrett Law PLLC will provide an honest evaluation of your case in a confidential initial consultation, without charge, and develop a legal strategy that meets your unique circumstances. To schedule an appointment, call us at (800) 707-9577. We only receive legal fees if we recover for you.