Fears Nachawati Law Firm: Chorus Grows for Bayer CEO's Resignation as Juries Return Verdicts in Roundup Cancer Cases

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 10, 2021

On Monday, a California appellate court affirmed an $87 million award for a couple diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma after exposure to the herbicide. Jurors in a 2019 trial awarded plaintiffs Alberta and Alva Pilliod $2 billion in punitive damages, finding that Roundup was likely a significant cause of their lymphoma. Alameda Superior Court Judge Winifred Smith later reduced the punitive damages to $87 million but called Bayer's efforts to impede scientific inquiry into the dangers of the chemical glyphosate in the weed killer "reprehensible."

To date, three bellwether jury trials have produced multimillion-dollar verdicts against Bayer AG (OTCMKTS: BAYRY) subsidiary Monsanto, finding that Roundup exposure is linked to cancer. All three verdicts have now been affirmed on appeal. Also in May, U.S. District Court Judge Vince Chhabria, who is overseeing the Roundup multidistrict litigation (MDL), rejected terms of a proposed settlement and ordered the parties to return to negotiations.

Bayer's mounting courtroom losses and inability to reach a fair resolution with cancer victims is a massive failure of leadership within the pharmaceutical giant, said trial lawyer Majed Nachawati, co-founder of Dallas-based Fears Nachawati Law Firm.

"Three juries and three appellate courts have considered Bayer's claims and seen the scientific evidence," said Mr. Nachawati, whose firm represents thousands of individuals who developed cancer after exposure to Roundup. "Bayer continues to hide behind its corporate legal armies—it is time for Werner Baumann to show some leadership on this or step aside."

The case is Pilliod et al. v. Monsanto Co., case number A158228, in the Court of Appeal of the State of California, First Appellate District.

Fears Nachawati Law Firm represents individuals in mass-tort litigation, businesses and governmental entities in contingent litigation, and individual victims in complex personal injury litigation. The largest and most diverse products liability law firm in the nation, Fears Nachawati was ranked No. 1 nationally in products liability filings in federal court over the past three years. For more information visit https://www.fnlawfirm.com.