Monsanto Points To Juror Hug As Bias In $80M Roundup Trial
Law360 | By Hannah Albarazi
Monsanto told a California federal judge Monday that an unfair trial led to its $80 million loss in a Roundup bellwether trial, saying that a juror who recently wrote a letter urging the judge to preserve the award was seen hugging the plaintiff at a post-trial hearing.
Monsanto Co., owned by Bayer AG, said this juror, known as Juror #5, should not have become a juror as she had expressed potential bias against the agri-giant since before the trial. During the trial, Juror #5 also caused a fellow juror, who had allegedly made improper comments, to be excused from the trial, Monsanto told the court.
Since the $80 million verdict came down in March against Monsanto in favor of Ed Hardeman, finding the company liable for failing to warn that its popular Roundup weedkiller could cause cancer, Monsanto said Juror #5’s post-trial actions “further underscore her potential for bias, the necessity for the court to have conducted an investigation to verify her allegations about another juror, and the serious risk that Monsanto was deprived of its right to a fair trial.”