UPDATE:

• On April 1, 2021 Monsanto lost its bid to transfer legal action filed on behalf of Black farmers who were unknowingly exposed to carcinogens contained in the herbicide Roundup when a court ruled to keep the Multidistrict Litigation in California federal court.

The National Black Farmers Association (NBFA) filed a federal lawsuit against Monsanto concerning the company’s marketing and sale of Roundup, a product widely used in farming containing the controversial herbicide, glyphosate.

The NBFA’s complaint, filed on Aug. 26, 2020 in the Eastern District of Missouri, seeks injunctive relief which would require the agricultural biotechnology corporation Monsanto to discontinue marketing Roundup products and remove them from stores. Alternatively, the company would be required to provide consumers with adequate warning of any cancer risks associated with their products.

Although previous lawsuits have been filed against Monsanto, the complaint states that no others made “any effort to get Roundup off the shelves.”

NBFA Alleges Monsanto’s Business Practices Disproportionately Affect Black Farmers

NBFA, a non-profit with membership exceeding 100,000 throughout 42 states, says Monsanto “led a prolonged campaign of misinformation” that the weed killer, Roundup, was safe and non-toxic when the company knew the product actually contained chemicals — specifically glyphosate — that may cause various cancers. Notably, in 2015, the IARC classified glyphosate as a “probable carcinogen.”

The association also asserted that Monsanto has engaged in aggressive business practices that disproportionately affect Black farmers, causing its members to be “all-but forced into purchasing Monsanto’s Roundup Ready seeds.” The group argues that its members, many of whom live in rural areas with limited internet access, are “overwhelmingly dependent on local seed stores.”

According to the association, Roundup Ready seeds are the only option available to Black farmers due to Monsanto having bought up other local conventional seed companies over the past decades, resulting in any alternative options being pulled off store shelves.

In the lawsuit, the association contends that Monsanto’s actions created a “vicious cycle” for Black farmers as a result of being coerced into purchasing Roundup Ready seeds which need to be replanted annually, unlike other conventional seeds which can be reused multiple times and are less costly. The complaint states that since planting Roundup Ready seeds requires the use of Roundup, Black farmers have also been forced to use dangerous chemicals — without any safety training offered by Monsanto. Since weeds become resistant to Roundup over time, stronger products must be used, further increasing the risks associated with exposure to glyphosate and other chemicals in the product.

The NBFA purports that as a result of Monsanto’s business practices compelling Black farmers to purchase Roundup Ready seeds — and Roundup — its members were exposed to carcinogens like glyphosate that may cause various cancers including non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and leukemia. The Association argues that the only way to put an end to the cycle is to get Monsanto to stop selling its glyphosate-containing product, Roundup.

Roundup Lawsuit Filed by Black Farmers Consolidated

In February 2021, the more than 125,000 claims against Monsanto and its parent company, Bayer, were consolidated into Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) over Roundup in California federal court. Monsanto fought the move, asking the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to reconsider.

The company reportedly argued that the NBFA cases concerned cancers other than non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and related diseases, making them unsuitable for consolidation. Monsanto also contended that the claims would not fit neatly into the current pre-trial structure in the Roundup MDL.

The judicial panel disagreed, rejecting Monsanto’s arguments in an order issued April 1, 2021.

“There is no question that NBFA encompasses NHL and other hematopoietic cancers, as those specific injuries are referenced multiple times in plaintiff’s complaint,” pointed out the panel’s order, which also noted that the judge overseeing the litigation could adjust the pretrial tracks as necessary.

In a statement to Law360, representatives for Bayer stressed that the panel’s decision concerned only the transfer of the NBFA cases into the Roundup MDL and “has nothing to do with the merits.”

Other Roundup Cancer Lawsuits

The NBFA’s lawsuit isn’t the first to be filed against Monsanto — as stated in the complaint, the action is one of many that have raised the issue of the company’s deceptive advertising practices concerning Roundup.

In 1996, the New York Attorney General prevailed in a legal action against Monsanto for misleading consumers about Roundup’s safety. Additionally, in 2009, France’s highest court found the company guilty of false advertising. Many countries have already banned or restricted glyphosate, Roundup’s key ingredient.

Individual plaintiffs have also prevailed in recent lawsuits against Monsanto for their damages associated with cancer diagnoses linked to Roundup. In 2018, a California jury found a verdict in favor of a groundskeeper with terminal cancer linked to Roundup’s ingredients. He was ultimately awarded over $20.5 million in damages.

In 2019, a plaintiff was awarded $80 million in damages in federal court after the jury found that Roundup was a major contributing factor in causing his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

A $39.5 million settlement was also recently reached in a class action related to Monsanto’s false labeling of Roundup products.

The NBFA Class Action Lawsuit is National Black Farmers Association v. Monsanto Co., Case No. 3:21-cv-00966, and the MDL is In re Roundup Products Liability Litigation, Case No. 3:16-md-02741, both in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Join a Roundup Weed Killer Cancer Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

You may qualify for this Roundup cancer lawsuit investigation if you were diagnosed with one of these conditions after using Roundup:

• Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
• B-cell lymphoma
• T-cell lymphoma
• Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)
• Hairy cell lymphoma

See if you qualify by filling out the form on this page for a case evaluation with an experienced Roundup lawsuit attorney. 

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This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.