Roundup manufacturer Monsanto has filed a 920-page motion asking a Georgia state court to grant a new trial and throw out a $2.1 billion verdict awarded to a man who alleged his cancer was caused by his 20-year use of the popular herbicide. In support of the motion, Monsanto pointed to the fact that the plaintiff, John Barnes, was permitted to testify that Roundup was the only product he had ever used, which allowed experts testifying for him to claim that his non-Hodgkins’ lymphoma had to have been caused by that product. Monsanto was not permitted to introduce evidence, including Home Depot receipts, that established that Mr. Barnes had in fact purchased other herbicides, a fact that was corroborated by his wife. The ultimate verdict awarded was $65 million in compensatory damages and $2 billion in punitive damages.
In its motion, Monsanto argued:
“The entire proceeding — including the verdict — was fundamentally tainted by an incomplete reality that poisoned the jury’s truth-seeking function…..The punitive award is also unconstitutional because it is cumulative of the approximately $100,000,000 Monsanto has already paid as punishment for the exact same conduct, and also improperly punishes Monsanto, in contravention of clear Georgia law, for conduct outside the state of Georgia that was lawful where and when it occurred,”
In the first trial in August, 2024, Monsanto was permitted to offer the sales records to impeach the plaintiff but that proceeding ended in a mistrial. Discovery was reopened in late 2024 and the court ordered Home Depot to turn over the receipts; however, Home Depot refused to do, citing privilege for the sales records. Monsanto was later sanctioned by the court for including these records as evidence in the second trial.
Monsanto cited other issues with the trial including evidentiary errors relating to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s position on the safety of glyphosate, the pesticide’s key ingredient, and the number of Roundup bottles purchased by Mr. Barnes.
In another issue that arose during the second trial, Cobb County State Court Judge Jane Manning cited inappropriate behavior on the part of plaintiffs’ counsel, threatening to hold them in contempt for their “lack of courtroom decorum”. Nevertheless, she declined to hold a contempt hearing, which Monsanto claimed violated its due process rights by creating the impression the judge condoned the behavior. In response plaintiffs’ counsel stated
“Our client has terminal cancer caused by Monsanto’s product, and we are proud of how we represented him in this important case. The evidence revealed that Monsanto has been poisoning people with Roundup for decades and has refused to take any accountability for the extensive harm it has caused. Even today, Monsanto refuses to take responsibility despite the overwhelming evidence and consequential jury verdicts against them across the country. Despite litigating against this type of company, and while we always represent our clients zealously, we also always do so within ethical bounds and with deference to the court.”
The Roundup litigation has sparked tens of thousands of lawsuits alleging that glyphosate causes non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Continue reading for a complete look at the key developments, verdicts, settlements and complete history of Roundup litigation.
