Monsanto appeals state court’s $78.5M Roundup verdict
Agri-Pulse | By Steve Davies
Monsanto is appealing a state court’s verdict awarding $78.5 million to a California man who says exposure to Roundup caused his non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
The company, now owned by Bayer, claims in a brief filed in California appellate court that San Francisco Superior Court Judge Suzanne Bolanos was wrong not to allow the jury to consider analyses by U.S. and foreign regulatory agencies concluding glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, does not cause cancer.
Bolanos did allow the jury to consider the 2015 monograph prepared by the International Agency for Research on Cancer that found glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic” to humans.
Monsanto also said the appellate court should consider how the verdict was reached, asking the appellate court to take “judicial notice” of post-trial activities. After the jury returned a $289 million judgment for former school groundskeeper Dewayne Johnson against the company, including $250 million in punitive damages, Bolanos issued a tentative ruling proposing to throw out the punitive damages award, saying the plaintiff had not been able to show malice on Monsanto’s part.