In Roundup case, US judge cuts $2 billion verdict against Bayer to $86 million

Under the judge's final order, California couple Alva & Alberta Pilliod would receive roughly $17 million in compensatory & $69 million in punitive damages, down from $55 million & $2 billion, respectively.

A California judge on Thursday reduced a $2 billion jury verdict, slashing the award for a couple who blamed Bayer AG’s glyphosate-based weed killer Roundup for their cancer to $86.7 million.

Superior Court Judge Winifred Smith of the California Superior Court in Oakland said the jury’s billion-dollar punitive damages awards were excessive & unconstitutional, but rejected Bayer’s request to strike the punitive award outright.

Under Smith’s final order, California couple Alva & Alberta Pilliod would receive roughly $17 million in compensatory & $69 million in punitive damages, down from $55 million & $2 billion, respectively.

The plaintiffs still have to formally accept the reduced award.

Bayer in a statement on Thursday said Smith’s decision to slash the award was a step in the right direction, but added it would file an appeal.

“We continue to believe that the verdict & damage awards are not supported by the evidence at trial & conflict with the extensive body of reliable science & conclusions of leading health regulators worldwide that confirms glyphosate-based herbicides can be used safely & that glyphosate is not carcinogenic,” the company said.

Bayer faces Roundup cancer lawsuits by more than 13,400 plaintiffs across the United States. The Germany-based company bought Roundup maker Monsanto in a $63 billion deal last year, but has since seen its share price tumble over the glyphosate litigation.

Plaintiffs allege Roundup causes non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma & that Monsanto for decades tried to influence scientists & regulators to bury cancer evidence. Bayer denies those allegations.

The company had asked Smith to strike the punitive damages award in the Pilliods’ case, arguing that hundreds of studies & assessments by regulators worldwide concluded the herbicide to be safe for human use.

But the judge in her Thursday order rejected those arguments.

“In this case there was clear & convincing evidence that Monsanto made efforts to impede, discourage, or distort scientific inquiry & the resulting science,” Smith said.

Bayer to date has lost three US jury trials in the Roundup litigation, with juries in California awarding multi-million dollar awards. It is appealing the decisions.

In August, the company is scheduled to face its first trial outside California at a courthouse in St. Louis, Missouri. Monsanto has recruited Missouri-based expert witnesses to make its case in a place where it has century-old roots but where juries often hit companies with huge damages.

Source Link

Pic By Google