Monsanto Appeals $78.5M Loss In First Roundup Trial
Law360 | By Emily Field
Monsanto asked a California appeals court Tuesday to reverse a $78.5 million verdict awarded to a school groundskeeper who claimed Roundup weedkiller caused his lymphoma in the first landmark trial over the herbicide’s alleged cancer risks.
The jury’s verdict of $289 million, later slashed to $78.5 million, to DeWayne “Lee” Johnson is inconsistent with both the law and sound science, Monsanto said. Although the jury found that Monsanto should have warned that its weedkiller caused non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the best scholarship available when Johnson was exposed to Roundup unanimously concluded there wasn’t enough evidence to link the cancer to the weedkiller’s active ingredient, glyphosate, Monsanto said.