Verdict: $2 Billion -- Herbicide Occupational Exposures - The Next Wave of Serious Compensation Claims

A jury in California has awarded a couple $2 Billion as a result of cancer contracted after using RoundUp manufactured by Monsanto. This is the 3rd verdict in a row in a series of trials against the pesticide manufacturer.


Previously a jury reached a verdict of $289+ Million on Friday in a liability trial in San Francisco against Monsanto  for the alleged carcinogenic propensities of its popular herbicide RoundUp. The claim was brought on behalf of a school groundskeeper who is suffering from terminal cancer. He alleged that his exposure to the glyphosate-based herbicide caused his illness, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The case is one of 5,000 that are now being cued-up for trial.(1)

The case mirrors the trajectory of asbestos exposure claims, the longest run tort in US history. The initial two liability cases, brought against the manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors of asbestos fiber in the 1970’s, trigged a mass onslaught of workers’ compensation cases on a national basis.

Glyphosate, N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine, is one of the most widely used herbicides. It is the active ingredient in products such as Roundup, Rodeo Aquatic Herbicide, and Eraser. Glyphosate is a broad-spectrum herbicide that is used on broadleaf weeds, grasses, and woody plants. The chemical was approved for use as a weed killer in 1974 and sold by Monsanto Co. Monsanto was subsequently acquired by Bayer AG.

Occupational exposure cases usually turn on the opinions of medical experts and this case is no exception. Reuters reported, “ One of the experts is Beate Ritz, a public health professor at the University of California, Los Angeles who has criticized EPA studies of glysophates as flawed and concluded based on her review of available research that glyphosate-containing products "to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty" cause the lymphoma cancer….. The other is Alfred Neugut, a cancer research professor at Columbia University, who reached the same conclusions as Ritz based on his review of scientific literature.”

The outcome of either the State and Federal Court glyphosate liability action, the ramifications in workers’ compensation claims remain uncertain. Since the standard of proof in workers’ compensation actions is based on an administrative law system, glyphosate claims may begin to emerge as the next wave of serious occupational exposure claims.

(1)The case is Dewayne Johnson v. Monsanto Co., CGC-16-550128, California Superior Court, County of San Francisco (San Francisco).

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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author of NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thomson-Reuters) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thomson-Reuters).

See also:
2019
Monsanto's ghostwriting and strong-arming threaten sound science---and society (EHN 06/26/19)
$2 Billion Verdict Against Monsanto Is Third to Find Roundup Caused Cancer (NYTimes 5/13/19)
Jury Awards Couple $2 Billion in Roundup Cancer Case (Courthouse News 5/6/19)
Expert Flunks EPA Handling of Roundup Approval (Courthouse News 4/2/19)
Popular wee killer's alleged link to cancer stirs widespread concern (NBC News 4/1/19)
Monsanto ordered to pay $80 Million in Roundup cancer trial (Yahoo 3/23/19)
U,S, Judge to allow controversial evidence in Roundup cancer trials (Reuters 1/28/19)

2018
General Mills changing Nature Valley labels after lawsuit's pesticide claim (Reuters 8/23/18)
Monsanto slammed with 8,000 lawsuits after Roundup cancer verdict (Fox Business 8/23/18)
Roundup litigation discovery documents: implications for public health and journal ethics  (Journal of Public Health) 8/2018 The Monsanto Papers (usrtk) 8/7/2018
The Other Monsanto Chemical Bayer Investors Should Watch (Bloomberg 8/19/18)

Breakfast With a Dose of Roundup? Weed Killer in $298 Million Cancer Verdict Found in Oat Cereal and Granola Bars  (Environmental Working Group 8/15/2018)
The Roundup Chemical Found Responsible for Cancer Might Also Be in Your Cereal (Mother Jones 8/15/2018)
Monsanto Roundup appeal has uphill climb on "junk science" grounds: legal experts (Reuters 8/14/2018)
Monsanto Cancer Ruling Sparks Backlash Around the Globe (EcoWatch 8/14/2018)
Bayer Drops After Monsanto Loses Roundup Cancer Trial (Bloomberg News 8/13/2018)

Jurors give $289 million to a man they say got cancer from Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller (CNN 8/11/2018)

California jury awards $289 million to man who claimed Monsanto's Roundup pesticide gave him cancer (LA Times 8/10/2018)

Did Monsanto Ignore Evidence Linking Its Weed Killer to Cancer? (The Nation 10/12/2017)
WHO Left in the dark over glyphosate evidence (Reuters) 8/14/2017)

Glyphosate Found in Childhood Vaccines (EcoWatch (9/10/2016)
Why is Glyphosate Sprayed on Crops Right Before Harvest (EcoWatch 3/5/2016)

Updated: 07/08/2019