A man argued a $298 million Monsanto jury verdict should stand despite the Roundup maker’s pleas that the award is excessive.

In 2016, plaintiff Dewayne J. filed suit against Monsanto, an agricultural company bought by Bayer AG earlier this year.

As a groundskeeper for a California school district, Dewayne said he worked with Roundup herbicides that contained glyphosate and other ingredients. He testified he recalled taking a class on pesticides and herbicides, during which the instructor had said the herbicide was “safe enough to drink.”

Shortly after that workshop, Dewayne said he was spraying the herbicide when a sprayer broke, causing him to be soaking wet with the chemicals. Another accident later on caused his entire back to be soaked with the herbicide.

Soon after the incidents, Dewayne said he found a lump on the back of his leg. He had other lumps appear on his legs, arms, chest, face and hands. In 2013, he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He said he did not realize his cancer could be linked with the glyphosate mixtures he’d been soaked in at work, so he kept using them.

Monsanto Jury Verdict Recognizes Harm to Victim

Dewayne insisted that Monsanto has known since the 1990s that glyphosate, especially when mixed with the surfactant POEA, could cause cancer. He said even though Monsanto lists POEA as an inert ingredient, studies indicate POEA strengthens glyphosate’s toxicity.

Dewayne says the Monsanto jury verdict should stand because Monsanto did not place a warning label on any of its products indicating there could be a link between using the herbicides and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

The Monsanto jury verdict includes a $250 million award in punitive damages and $30.25 million in compensatory damages.

Monsanto argues that Dewayne did not submit “sufficient and substantial evidence” to show their herbicides cause cancer, nor did he prove that Monsanto management acted with “malice or oppression.”

Dewayne believes the $298 million Monsanto jury verdict is not excessive at all because he has endured and will continue to endure a painful condition that will most likely take his life at an early age.

“For 40 years, Monsanto was faced with good science demonstrating that there was a potential risk of cancer with its product. Rather than take these studies seriously, Monsanto actively engaged in a fraudulent campaign to combat this science and try to convince the world its product was 
nontoxic,” said the plaintiff’s motion to the court.

In 1985, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxicology Branch classified glyphosate as a Category C oncogene, which means they found “limited evidence of carcinogenicity.”

In 2015, the World Health Organization determined that glyphosate is a “probable carcinogen” in both humans and animals.

Bayer AG said after the World Health Organization released their determination, thousands of lawsuits were filed. Bayer AG indicated 8,000 lawsuits are in U.S. courts right now regarding the alleged ill health effects of Monsanto’s glyphosate-based herbicides.

The Monsanto Jury Verdict Lawsuit is Case No. CGC16550128, in the Superior Court for the State of California, County of San Francisco.

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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