Jessica M. Semins  |  September 28, 2020

Category: Cancer

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garden center employee with plants

A proposed Roundup class action lawsuit filed against Home Depot may survive dismissal with an amended complaint, clarifying claims concerning the store’s failure to warn about the herbicide’s cancer-causing chemicals under California’s Proposition 65.

Plaintiff James Weeks commenced the action in August 2019, later filing the first amended complaint on Nov. 22, 2019, in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, alleging Home Depot engaged in unfair business practices. He claims the home improvement retailer deceived consumers by continuing to sell the supposedly carcinogenic herbicide without warning about the potential risks of Roundup cancer.

Despite being brought under California’s Unfair Competition Law, U.S. District Judge Fernando M. Olguin stated in his Sept. 18, 2020 decision on Home Depot’s motion to dismiss that the action “appears to state a Proposition 65 claim in substance.”

The judge granted Weeks the opportunity to file a second amended complaint in the Roundup class action lawsuit to properly raise the Proposition 65 claims concerning Home Depot’s failure to warn about exposure to carcinogens when purchasing Roundup. 

Although Home Depot also tried to make the procedural argument that the Roundup class action raised under the state law should be preempted by federal law FIFRA — the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act — the judge denied Home Depot’s motion to dismiss on those grounds, stating that the case concerned a “point-of-sale” warning separate from the labeling requirements imposed by FIFRA.

Home Depot Roundup Class Action Alleges the Store Chose Not to Protect Consumers

In his first amended complaint, Weeks alleges that Home Depot knew of the health risks associated with the weed killer, Roundup, and “continued selling a potentially deadly product for its own direct financial benefit.”

Weeks claims that he regularly purchased Roundup from a particular Home Depot location, and no warning of the health risks was ever given or displayed on store shelves. He asserts that Roundup’s warning label is not changed once it reaches Home Depot’s stores and the manufacturer’s label only provides notice that the chemicals can cause “moderate eye irritation,” despite the active ingredient’s alleged links to cancers like Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

Weeks contends in the first amended complaint of the Roundup class action lawsuit that Home Depot could “protect consumers from the risks of Roundup by simply providing a point of purchase shelf-warning, and can adjust the costs of such protection in the course of its ongoing business relationships with Bayer and Monsanto, yet unfairly chooses not to.”

Arguing that Home Depot played an “integral role in placing Roundup into the stream of commerce,” Weeks cites in the first amended complaint to a long history of controversy and legal action to support his argument, including the New York Attorney General’s 1996 lawsuit, a 2009 ruling in France affirming a false advertising judgment concerning Monsanto, and three recent substantial jury verdicts in California.  

What is Glyphosate?

scientist medical studyGlyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is a controversial herbicide linked to several types of cancer, including Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, other lymphomas, and leukemia.

First registered for use in the U.S. in 1974, it became one of the most commonly used herbicides worldwide, regularly used in the agricultural industry and people’s yards. In 2015, the IARC designated the chemical as “probably carcinogenic to humans.”

What is California’s Proposition 65?

Enforced and administered by The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, California’s Proposition 65 — California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act — requires that the state release a list of chemicals that are known to cause cancer, birth defects, and reproductive harm. It is required to be updated once a year and currently has a list of 900 chemicals.

Proposition 65 also mandates that a warning be placed on a product or posted in a business if a person could be exposed to one of the chemicals on the list. Monetary penalties are imposed of up to $2,500 a day for violations.

Glyphosate is listed as an identified carcinogen on the list. According to the Proposition 65 warning, exposure can occur through skin contact or breathing aerosol droplets of the chemical. The alleged carcinogen has also been found in food.

Can I Join a Roundup Class Action Lawsuit?

There have been a number of Roundup class action lawsuits filed related to glyphosate’s alleged links to cancer. If you used Roundup and were diagnosed with cancer or another illness you believe was connected to Roundup, you may be able to join a class action lawsuit. An experienced class action attorney can advise you of your legal rights and remedies and help you recover compensation for your economic and non-economic damages.

The Home Depot Roundup Class Action Lawsuit is Weeks v. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc., Case No. 2:19-cv-6780-FMO-AS in the United States District Court for the Central 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. 

Get a Case Evaluation

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

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