From The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/jan/03/bat-tried-to-remove-judge
British American Tobacco, one of the UK's most powerful companies, has been accused of "breathtaking arrogance" after one of its subsidiaries pushed for the removal of a judge hearing a cancer compensation lawsuit being brought against it.
The company, which each year produces 715 billion cigarettes in 41 countries and employs more than 50,000 people, claimed an Australian judge, Jim Curtis, would not have "an impartial and unprejudiced mind'' over the case brought by Claudia Jean Laurie, the widow of a smoker.
The company, which last year made global profits of almost £2.7bn, said this was because in a separate case in 2006 Curtis had branded BAT Australia "dishonest" for its role in the destruction of documents relating to the potentially harmful effects of its products.
Curtis said the company destroyed documents in anticipation of legal action and "dishonestly concealed this purpose by pretence of a rational non-selective housekeeping policy".
A former senior BAT executive, Fred Gulson, admitted the purpose of the policy was "to get rid of all the sensitive documents… under the guise of an innocent housekeeping arrangement".
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