Plaintiff Awarded $80M in The First Roundup Bellwether Trial

Plaintiff Awarded $80M in The First Roundup Bellwether Trial

Introduction

A California man was awarded $80 million in damages in the first federal trial against Monsanto, as the jury found that glyphosate exposure from Roundup was the reason for the man's cancer.

The verdict was given by a six-person jury in San Francisco in favor of a 70-year-old man who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2015. The jury granted $200,967 in economic damages, approximately $5 million in past and future non-economic damages, and $75 million in punitive damages. This was the second phase of the trial to determine liability and damages after the jury concluded the first phase on March 19, when it was ruled that Roundup played a crucial role in the man's cancer.

In the second phase, the jury heard the evidence, during the period of 1980 and 2012, Monsanto was well aware of a vast number of scientific studies linked to Roundup products and cancer. The plaintiff's counsel argued that, despite being aware of the studies, Monsanto failed to warn consumers or conduct its own research to take preventable steps. Bayer plans to vigorously appeal the verdict.

Monsanto has been accused in more than 11,000 lawsuits in several state courts. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria overlooks the federal multidistrict litigation (MDL No. 2741; In Re: Roundup Products Liability Litigation) in the Northern District of California.