Last month, a landmark verdict was handed in by a California jury. The Monsanto Company was ordered to pay a Bay Area school groundskeeper $289 million. The lawsuit claimed one of the company’s products caused the groundskeeper’s cancer, and over 4,000 other lawsuits are claiming the same thing. Will this verdict affect the outcome of these other cases?
How Will the Roundup Verdict Affect the Outcome of Other Lawsuits?
In 2014, a groundskeeper for the Benicia Unified School District was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He believed that his illness was the result of using hundreds of gallons of herbicide containing glyphosate. Yet, the company that produced the herbicide—Monsanto—repeatedly assured the man that its product did not cause cancer.
However, some past studies had connected the product’s active ingredient to possible cases of cancer. Despite these studies, Monsanto continues claim its herbicides are safe, pointing to several studies that agree with that claim. Recordings of calls made by the groundskeeper to the company as well as other evidence convinced a jury otherwise.
Since the verdict was reached, Monsanto has announced it will appeal the jury’s decision. Though many analysts believe that the verdict will not be overturned, they don’t think subsequent cases will automatically arrive at similar conclusions. The 4,000 plus cases waiting to be tried will depend upon the evidence presented and the juries that hear them.
This means these cases will depend on lawyers that recognize what evidence will be important in the courtroom. Here at The Brandi Law Firm, we understand what matters when it comes to winning in the courtroom. To find out what we can do to help protect consumers who have been injured by a corporation, contact our office right away.