Bayer appeals $20.5 million Roundup ruling to California Supreme Court [View all]

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

BUSINESS NEWS SEPTEMBER 1, 2020 / 11:53 AM / UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO

Bayer appeals $20.5 million Roundup ruling to California Supreme Court

Tom Hals
2 MIN READ

(Reuters) - Bayer AG has asked California’s Supreme Court to review a decision awarding $20.5 million to a groundskeeper who claimed the company’s Roundup weedkiller caused his cancer, arguing the ruling was at odds with federal law and settled legal principles.

Bayer, which acquired Roundup with its purchase of Monsanto for $63 billion in 2018, said the July decision by the California Court of Appeal affirming a 2018 jury verdict in favor of Dewayne Johnson would be relied upon by other courts handling cases over the widely used herbicide.

A San Francisco jury initially awarded Johnson $289.2 million after finding the chemical glyphosate in Roundup caused his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

The trial judge reduced that amount to $78.5 million and the Court of Appeal reduced that to $20.5 million.

“In this case, the Court of Appeal affirmed a verdict that severely punishes Monsanto for complying with federal law,” said the petition by the company, which has long said regulators have deemed glyphosate safe for use by humans.

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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bayer-glyphosate-lawsuit/bayer-appeals-20-5-million-roundup-ruling-to-california-supreme-court-idUSKBN25S5JY