During a court hearing on a lawsuit against Bayer’s Roundup herbicide, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria stated that he would reduce the $80m damage award against Bayer to $50m or less.
In the four-week trial, a federal jury on March 27 awarded $5 million in compensatory and $75 million in punitive damages to a plaintiff, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2014. The U.S. Supreme court rulings limit the ratio of punitive damages. Judge Chhabria also stated that he also considered reducing the compensatory damages award as the plaintiff was in full remission and unlikely to suffer as much as he had in the past.
Bayer had asked Judge Chhabria to completely reverse the jury verdict in the plaintiff’s case as the scientific evidence and assessments have found glyphosate safe. Bayer and its Monsanto subsidiary, which was acquired one year ago, now face more than 15,000 Roundup lawsuits. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria is presiding over all the federal multidistrict litigation (MDL No. 2741; In Re: Roundup Products Liability Litigation) in the Northern District of California.
