The Associated Press

LOUISVILLE - A former Philip Morris employee has filed a federal lawsuit against the tobacco company, saying he should continue receiving two cartons of cigarettes each month as part of a settlement reached almost 30 years ago.

Steven Thrasher, 50, said he received the free cigarettes following a settlement he received for being shot in October 1974 by a supervisor at a Philip Morris plant in Louisville. He stopped getting the cartons in 2001 and is alleging a breach of contract in a lawsuit filed in July.

Thrasher is a paraplegic who said he doesn't smoke but gives the cigarettes to relatives.

Philip Morris USA, based in Richmond, Va., said it cut off the free cigarettes to Thrasher and other former employees after the national tobacco settlement in 1998. That prohibited the promotion of tobacco products, including the distribution of samples.

Thrasher's 1976 settlement with Philip Morris resolved a civil lawsuit and a workers' compensation claim. His supervisor, Wilford Payne, pleaded guilty to malicious shooting and wounding in 1977 and received probation. The incident left Thrasher in a wheelchair, living on disability payments.

In 2000, Thrasher sued the company under a federal pension law, saying he was entitled to a variety of company benefits including the two cartons per month. That lawsuit was dismissed by U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II.