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Bayer and Monsanto Punished With Massive $2.25 Billion Roundup Verdict.

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THE DECISION

In a stunning courtroom decision, a Philadelphia jury handed Roundup manufacturers Bayer and Monsanto a hefty $2.25 billion verdict for failing to warn consumers about the cancer risk associated with Roundup exposure. The $2.25 billion award is now the largest verdict to have ever come from the Roundup lawsuit.

The jury deliberated for only about an hour before reaching a decision. The jurors unanimously chose to punish the two merger companies with a jaw-dropping $2 billion in punitive damages. John McKivision, the plaintiff who developed Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma after being exposed to Roundup, was awarded $250 million in compensatory damages. The extremely high value of the punitive damage total, when compared to the amount awarded for compensatory damages, indicates that the jury focused heavily on Bayer and Monsanto’s negligence to determine the trial’s outcome.

“It was a strong and decisive and unanimous declaration by a jury that had heard three weeks of damning testimony about some of the most egregious corporate misconduct in American history. The jury spoke strength and with conviction.”— Thomas R. Kline, Mckivison’s attorney

According to a joint statement from Kline and Jason Itkin, McKivision’s second attorney, this case’s shocking verdict signals a need for “top-to-bottom change” within Monsanto’s operations. Though the $2 billion punitive price tag will most likely be greatly reduced once the verdict is appealed— a common fate for most verdicts with punitive damages exceeding over four times the value of the remaining damages— it sends a strong message that Bayer and Monsanto must adjust their corporate practices and take action to warn customers about the likely cancer risk caused by using Roundup.

What happens next?

For now, Bayer and Monsanto have decided to appeal the decision in hopes to mitigate the damages they owe. After a streak of losses in 2023, including the $1.56 billion verdict in Missouri and the $332 million verdict in Pennsylvania, the two merger companies are beginning to lose their footing in this lawsuit.

Though they hoped to finalize remaining Roundup cases back in 2020 with their $10 billion settlement, there are still over 4,000 pending cases against Bayer and Monsanto in a federal multidistrict litigation as of 2024. A new trial is set to begin in a Delaware state court in early February, giving Bayer and Monsanto barely any time to breathe before they’re already back in the courtroom.

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