Tony Gwynn's family sues tobacco industry over his death

The family of Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the tobacco industry Monday.

The suit claims the San Diego Padres great was manipulated into developing an addiction to smokeless tobacco, which the family believes caused his death in 2014 after he developed salivary gland cancer, according to Tyler Kepner of the New York Times.

The suit didn't specify damages and requests a jury trial on grounds of negligence, product liability, and fraud. It was filed in San Diego Superior Court against Altria Group, Inc. - formerly known as Philip Morris - and several other defendants.

Gwynn's family suggests Tony was a victim of a marketing scheme to get him addicted to smokeless tobacco while he was in college, with the hope that he would in turn promote the product to African-Americans who looked up to him.

"Now that the family understands how he was targeted, they understand that the industry knew they had this highly carcinogenic product and they were marketing it to people like Tony," said David S. Casey, the lead lawyer for the plaintiffs. "They want to hold them accountable and let a jury make a decision as to what is proper in this case."

Gwynn used one-and-a-half to two cans of smokeless tobacco per day from 1977 to 2008, which the suit says was the equivalent of smoking four to five packs of cigarettes every day.