Monsanto's Liability In Cancer Case Upheld; Damages Lowered

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – A judge Monday upheld pesticide manufacturer Monsanto's liability in a lawsuit alleging that exposure to the company's Roundup product played a substantial role in causing a man's cancer.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Suzanne Bolanos, however, lowered the punitive damages in the case to $39 million from $250 million and said plaintiff Dewayne Johnson must accept the lower amount or she'll order a new trial.

Bolanos upheld the compensatory damages of $39 million for a total award of $78 million.

Johnson of Vallejo, a former Benicia Unified School District groundskeeper who is terminally ill from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, won the financial award from a jury in the court of Bolanos in August after an 8-week trial.

The case was the first to go to trial among several thousand cases filed in state and federal courts around the country by people who claim their cancer is linked to Roundup.

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