Philip Morris USA (PM USA) urged a King County Superior Court judge in Washington State to compel arbitration in its dispute with R.J. Reynolds (RJR) and other tobacco companies. The conflict centers on longstanding disagreements over the annual Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) payments to the state.
RJR and fellow plaintiffs claim PM USA aims to derail a separate 2025 settlement signed between RJR and Washington by attempting to enforce an arbitration clause dating back to a 2017 agreement. They argue PM USA is improperly interfering in a deal it is not directly part of.
This week, in response, PM USA submitted a motion to compel arbitration, asserting that RJR and the other defendants are bound by the 2017 arbitration clause and that the court must defer to this private resolution mechanism. The outcome of this procedural motion could significantly influence the future of tobacco payment disputes under the MSA—either moving them out of public courtrooms or keeping them subject to private arbitration panels.