State high court won’t review Monsanto weedkiller appellate ruling

The California Supreme Court denied review Thursday of the first jury finding that Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller caused a former school groundskeeper's cancer.

Plaintiff Dewayne Johnson and the Bayer-owned company both sought review of the case. Johnson v. Monsanto Co., S264158 (Cal. Sup. Ct., filed Sept. 1, 2020).

Monsanto argued the verdict should be completely overturned since federal law preempts state law claims that it failed to warn consumers about the glyphosate-based weedkiller's health risks. The company said adding a warning that glyphosate is carcinogenic would constitute a false and misleading statement, causing Roundup to be illegally misbranded.

"We are disappointed with the court's decision not to review the intermediate appeals court's decision in Johnson and will consider our legal options for further review of this case," Bayer said in a statement.

The plaintiff's attorneys, meanwhile, challenged a court of appeal decision to reduce the verdict from $78.5 million to $20 million based on how much Johnson should be compensated for the remainder of his life. The 1st District Court of Appeal found that Johnson can only be paid for a maximum of two years of life lost.

Johnson also sought review on the scope of punitive damages, which was restricted to a 1-1 ratio with compensatory damages. His attorneys argued the state Supreme Court should conduct an independent review of the reprehensibility of Monsanto's conduct.

Bayer has settled with several law firms representing a significant portion of lawsuits against Monsanto.

-- Winston Cho