Monsanto Company (now Bayer) is facing tens of thousands of lawsuits across the United States filed by individuals who allege exposure to Roundup weed killer caused them to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). The first trial against Monsanto ended on August 10, 2018 with a unanimous jury verdict of $289 million for a Benicia, California school district groundskeeper, Dewayne “Lee” Johnson. The Johnson case is currently on appeal in the California State Court of Appeals.
The second case to go to trial ended with a $80 million verdict on behalf of Edwin Hardeman and the third case to go to trial against Monsanto resulted in a $2.055 billion verdict on behalf of an elderly couple (Alva and Alberta Pilliod) who both developed cancer after exposure to Roundup.
Most of the Roundup cancer lawsuits are filed in various state courts. Others are consolidated in a federal multi-district litigation (MDL) in Northern California.
Federal MDL Roundup Products Liability Litigation (MDL No. 2741)
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
San Francisco, California
Lead Case No. 3:16-md-02741
#1 Federal trial –Hardeman v. Monsanto began 2/25/19 and ended on 3/27/2019 with a $80M verdict.
The Honorable Judge Vince Chhabria was the presiding judge. As of August 1, 2019, 3,600 plaintiffs with non-Hodgkin lymphoma have filed cases in federal courts across the country. These cases have been transferred and are consolidated before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
Wisner Baum senior partner Michael Baum is a member of the Executive Committee for the Monsanto Roundup MDL.
The first Roundup MDL trial on behalf of Edwin Hardeman (case. no. 4:16-cv-00525-DMR / MDL Case No. 3:16-md-02741) began on Feb. 25, 2019 and ended on March 27, 2019 with a unanimous jury verdict of $80 million. Our firm assisted co-lead attorneys Aimee Miller and Jennifer Moore with the Hardeman trial as members of the MDL Executive Committee by presenting and preparing experts, corporate testimony and documents for the trial. Though he was not co-lead in the Hardeman case, Wisner Baum partner, Brent Wisner, presented one of the key fact witnesses for the plaintiff, Dr. Christopher Portier, and cross-examined many of Monsanto’s corporate witnesses during the Hardeman trial.
Very first Roundup cancer trial – Johnson v. Monsanto began on 6/18/18 and ended on 8/10/2018 with a $289M verdict.
The first ever Roundup cancer lawsuit to proceed to trial was for Dewayne “Lee “Johnson, a groundskeeper for the Benicia Unified School District in the San Francisco Bay Area. Mr. Johnson alleged exposure to Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer caused him to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Dewayne Johnson v. Monsanto Company (case no. CGC-16-550128) went to trial on June 18, 2018 and resulted in a $289 million verdict on August 10, 2018. The Miller Firm, Wisner Baum and Audet & Partners represented Mr. Johnson at trial. The trial took place at Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco. The jury found that Roundup was a substantial factor in causing Mr. Johnson’s cancer and also awarded punitive damages against Monsanto for failing to warn consumers that exposure to Roundup weed killer causes non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Lead trial attorney, R. Brent Wisner, served as co-lead trial counsel for Mr. Johnson and delivered the opening and closing statements at trial, as well as presenting most of the scientific evidence and cross-examining of Monsanto’s experts.
#1 CA JCCP trial – Pilliod v. Monsanto began on 3/28/2019 and ended on 5/13/2019 with a momentous verdict of $2.055 billion.
Roundup Judicial Council Coordination Proceedings (JCCP)
California Superior Court for the County of Alameda
Oakland, California
JCCP No. 4953
Many of the cases filed in California state courts are consolidated in the Roundup JCCP. As of August 1, 2019, 529 state court cases have been consolidated before the California Superior Court for the County of Alameda. The presiding judge is Judge Winifred Smith.
Wisner Baum attorney and partner R. Brent Wisner is administrator and co-lead counsel for the Roundup JCCP.
The first trial in the California Roundup JCCP began on March 28, 2019. The plaintiffs were Mr. Alva Pilliod and his wife, Mrs. Alberta Pilliod (case no. RG17862702). The Pilliods alleged exposure to Roundup caused them both to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The Miller Firm, Wisner Baum, Audet & Partners and Brady Law Group represented the Pilliods at trial. Wisner Baum partner, R. Brent Wisner, delivered the opening and closing arguments, presented scientific evidence and cross-examined many of Monsanto’s experts during the Pilliod trial. The Alameda County jury in this case returned a verdict of $2.055 billion in favor of Mr. and Mrs. Pilliod, ordering Monsanto to pay $55 million in compensatory damages and $2 billion in punitive damages ($1 billion each for Mr. and Mrs. Pilliod) for failing to warn consumers that exposure to Roundup weed killer causes non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
22nd Circuit Court for the City of St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
Example Case No. 1622-CC01071
Thousands of cases are filed in St. Louis City Court and St. Louis County Court.
21st Circuit Court for the County of St. Louis
St. Louis County, Missouri
18th Judicial District Court Gallatin County
Bozeman, Montana
Example Case No. DV 17-883C
Superior Court of the State of Delaware
Example Case No. N16C-04-037 VLM
"Wisner Baum gave exceptional attention to all aspects of the case, detailed inquiry, and tenacious overview of all the information submitted. The paralegals are efficient and diligent. I was completely surprised to find an empathic personal message to take care of my own health during the challenging time of being a full-time caretaker.*"
In May of 2019, the jury in the case of Pilliod et al. v, Monsanto Company ordered the agrochemical giant to pay $2.055 billion in damages to the plaintiffs, Alva and Alberta Pilliod, a Bay Area couple in their 70s. R. Brent Wisner served as co-lead trial attorney for the Pilliods, delivering the opening and closing statements and cross-examining several of Monsanto’s experts. Wisner Baum managing shareholder, Michael Baum and attorney Pedram Esfandiary also served on the trial team in the Pilliod case.
The judge later reduced their award to $87M. Monsanto appealed the Pilliod’s verdict which the California Court of Appeal for the First Appellate District denied on August 9, 2021. Monsanto then requested the California Supreme Court review the appeal’s court decision, which the court denied on Nov. 17, 2021. Monsanto (Bayer) then submitted a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court which SCOTUS denied on June 27, 2022, allowing the final judgment of $87M to remain intact.
$289.2 million jury verdict in Monsanto Roundup trial
Wisner Baum co-represented Dewayne “Lee” Johnson in the first Roundup cancer lawsuit to proceed to trial. On Aug. 10, 2018, a San Francisco jury ordered Monsanto to pay $39.25 million in compensatory damages and $250 million in punitive damages to Mr. Johnson, a former groundskeeper who alleged exposure to Monsanto’s herbicides caused him to develop terminal non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Months after the jury verdict, the judge overseeing the trial reduced the punitive damages to $39.25 million. Mr. Johnson decided to accept the remittitur, bringing the adjusted amount awarded to Mr. Johnson $78.5 million.
Monsanto (Bayer) appealed the verdict and Johnson cross appealed. On July 20, 2020, the First Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the verdict against Monsanto but reduced Mr. Johnson’s award to $20.5 million. The company chose not to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, ending the litigation.
In 2016, Wisner Baum attorney Timothy A. Loranger and six other attorneys in the Plaintiffs’ Management Committee were able to secure a $265 million settlement for victims of the 2015 Amtrak 188 derailment in Philadelphia, one of the largest in the U.S. for 2016.
