The family of Hall of Fame baseball player Tony Gwynn has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the tobacco industry.
Gwynn died in 2014 at the age of 54 of salivary gland cancer -- a condition caused in large part by his 31 years using smokeless tobacco.
The lawsuit filed Monday in San Diego Superior Court seeks to hold Altria Group, Inc., the tobacco giant formerly known as Philip Morris, and other parties accountable for Gwynn’s death.
According to the lawsuit, Gwynn became addicted to their products.
"The tobacco industry had a responsibility to disclose the risk they knew of to him," Gwynn's attorney David S. Casey told The Associated Press. "They did not. At the time he made a choice with them marketing to try tobacco at a time it was not disclosed that it was dangerous."
The suit seeks a jury trial and unspecified damages.
Gwynn's wife Alicia and children, Tony Gwynn, Jr. and Anisha Gwynn-Jones, and their attorneys will address the media Tuesday at 5 p.m. ET in San Diego.
Gwynn spent his entire 20-year career with the San Diego Padres before retiring after the 2001 season with 3,141 hits. He was a 15-time All-Star with a career batting average of .338 and won the National League batting title eight times. In 2007, Gwynn was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
