First Roundup Bellwether Trial Goes Before The Federal Jury

First Roundup Bellwether Trial Goes Before The Federal Jury

Introduction

The jury selection for the much-talked-about first bellwether trial involving Bayer AG Monsanto and a 70-year old plaintiff began as scheduled on February 25, in San Francisco, California.  

The plaintiff, who used Roundup in his Sonoma County property from the 1980s through 2012, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2015. He alleges that glyphosate and other ingredients contained in Roundup resulted in his diagnosis of cancer, which may have been avoided if adequate warnings and safety instructions for consumers had been provided by the manufacturer.

Earlier, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria passed a decision to split the trial into two phases, restricting the plaintiff lawyers from introducing evidence that the company allegedly attempted to influence the regulators and manipulate public opinion leaving them to first convince the jurors that Roundup caused the plaintiff’s cancer before making arguments for punitive damages. The trial is expected to last about four weeks, the outcome of which can help attorneys decide whether to continue fighting similar suits in court or settle them.

Bayer faces more than 9,300 Roundup lawsuits in state and federal courts across the country over allegations that it causes non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Roundup cancer lawsuits are consolidated into multidistrict litigation (MDL No. 2741; In re: Roundup Products Liability Litigation) in the Northern District of California. Two more bellwether trials are scheduled for this year with a number of state court claims lined up through 2020.

Earlier on Wednesday, February 13, a federal judge indicated that he might reverse the Roundup lawsuit filed by a plaintiff that claims Monsanto's Roundup herbicide was the reason for his non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The man's lawyer has got a second chance, as the case will go on trial in May this year.

The plaintiff was unaware that Monsanto was unaware that roundup was the main cause of his cancer, which he discovered after the International Agency for Research on Cancer released a report in 2015, about glyphosate's carcinogenic nature.