Split circuit panel OKs $87.5M verdict against Monsanto

A divided 1st District Court of Appeal has affirmed an $86.7 million verdict for Alberta and Alva Pilliod in their lawsuit against Bayer AG-owned Monsanto for contracting non-Hodgkin's lymphoma after using the weedkiller Roundup.

A dissenting justice argued the award was too high in the Monday opinion.

An Alameda County jury awarded the married Livermore couple $2.055 billion, but Superior Court Judge Winifred Y. Smith reduced the award to $86.7 million in July 2019.

Even reduced, attorneys for Monsanto argued the 4-1 ratio of punitive to compensatory damages was too high.

But Justice Marla J. Miller, writing for the majority, concluded Monsanto's argument was based on a faulty premise.

"The trial court was explicit that its reduced compensatory damages, although 'substantial,' did not include a punitive component," she wrote. Pilliod et al. v. Monsanto Company, 2021 DJDAR 8129 (1st District Court of Appeal, filed Aug. 10, 2021).

"We can think of no reason to second guess the trial judge's finding on this point; there is nothing in the record to cast doubt on the judge's statement that there was no punitive component in the court's own calculation of the reduced compensatory damages awards," Miller added.

Justice James A. Richman disagreed with the amount, saying it was simply too much money.

"That is, the enormity of the amounts awarded by the jury here -- $52 million in noneconomic damages; $2 billion (!) in punitives -- results in a form of bootstrapping: A high award, even when reduced, still results in a high number," he wrote.

Carolyn Nagle, a Bayer spokeswoman, defended the safety of Roundup in a statement Tuesday.

"We respectfully disagree with the court's ruling as the verdict is not supported by the evidence at trial or the law," Nagle wrote. "Monsanto will consider its legal options in this case."

The company plans to file a writ petition with the U.S. Supreme Court later this month to review another Roundup verdict that raises many of the same legal issues, she wrote.

R. Brent Wisner, an attorney with Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman PC who represents the Pilliods, hailed the ruling as another victory against Bayer.

"The court confirmed that there was substantial evidence that Monsanto 'acted with a willful and conscious disregard for the safety of others in its efforts to shape the scientific inquiry into glyphosate and Roundup,' and that Monsanto's conduct was 'reprehensible,'" Wisner said in a statement.

"This is a major triumph for the Pilliods and plaintiffs everywhere," he added.