After three staggering losses in California, defendant Bayer has filed a motion requesting a change of venue for future Roundup lawsuit trials.

Bayer, which obtained the rights to the controversial herbicide last year when it took over agribusiness giant Monsanto in 2018, complains that California’s laws favor plaintiffs and that the trials are receiving “highly prejudicial coverage” by news outlets.

Three Roundup Lawsuit Verdicts Favor Plaintiffs

Bayer’s first loss came in August 2018, when, according to CNN, a San Francisco jury awarded a $289 million Roundup verdict to Dewayne Johnson, a former groundskeeper for a Bay Area school district.

The second Roundup lawsuit to come to trial ended in a verdict for $80.5 million for plaintiff Ed Hardeman, who says, according to an article by Bloomberg, he used the product for 30 years. Most recently, the New York Times reported that an Oakland jury ordered Bayer to pay over $2 billion to plaintiffs Alva and Alberta Pilliod, both in their 70s and suffering from NHL.

Bayer is appealing all three verdicts and has vowed to continue to fight for its flagship product. However, between precipitous declines in the company’s stock value and growing pressure from shareholders, analysts believe that the company will eventually have to enter into a settlement with the remaining plaintiffs.

Currently, there are approximately 13,000 Roundup plaintiffs who have filed a lawsuit, claiming that the weedkiller was responsible for their illnesses.

Questions About Glyphosate Carcinogenicity Remain

Bayer stubbornly continues to insist that the active ingredient in Roundup, glyphosate, is not a carcinogen. However, numerous studies over the past two decades have found compelling scientific evidence linking glyphosate with cancer. One such study, published in 2001, found a “dose-response relationship” between glyphosate and non-Hodgkins lymphoma. A second pesticide study from 2003 supported those conclusions, while a third, appearing in a major medical journal in 2009, concluded that researchers’ “indication of an association between glyphosate and NHL has been considerably strengthened.”

In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded that glyphosate was a “likely human carcinogen,” while the State of California has listed the chemical as a substance “known to cause cancer.” Recently, the EPA published a statement declaring that glyphosate posed “no risk to public health”; however, court documents from another Roundup lawsuit trial, released in 2017, indicate that much of the research relied on by the EPA was written by Monsanto itself, suggesting collusion between the company and officials inside the agency.

Bayer Wants Future Roundup Lawsuit Trials Spread Out

Counsel for defendant Bayer argues that current plans for future Roundup trials allow California laws and legal precedents to “distort unfairly a national litigation that spans 66 jurisdictions.” They have asked that future federal trials involving Roundup litigation be heard in Nebraska and North Carolina, where other plaintiffs currently reside.

Judge Vincent Chhabria, who is currently presiding over Roundup lawsuit trials in California, has allowed the defendants to choose which out-of-state plaintiff’s cases should be heard first, but is giving priority to pending cases in the state – particularly those brought by dying plaintiffs.

It has also been pointed out that many other Roundup cases are pending in other jurisdictions, including St. Louis, Missouri, where German-based Bayer maintains U.S. headquarters in Monsanto’s former facilities.

If you or a loved one developed cancer after using Roundup as a farm worker or home gardener, you may have a legal claim. Legal migrant farm workers may also seek help. Learn more by filling out the form on this page for a FREE case evaluation.

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