By Sara Randazzo 

Bayer AG lost an appeal in the first case to go to trial linking its Roundup weedkiller to cancer, though the California court greatly reduced the amount of damages awarded to $20.4 million.

The Monday decision by the California Court of Appeal comes in the case of school groundskeeper Dewayne Johnson, who won a 2018 jury trial blaming Roundup for causing his non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The jury's initial $289.2 million award sent Bayer's stock tumbling and was followed by an even larger $2 billion award in a second trial.

Bayer, which inherited Roundup's legal liabilities with its $63 billion acquisition of seed and pesticide maker Monsanto Co. two years ago, recently said it would pay up to $10.9 billion to settle tens of thousands of Roundup lawsuits. The company said at the time it was still pursuing appeals in the three cases that have gone to trial.

Bayer has steadfastly said that Roundup and the weedkiller's active ingredient, glyphosate, are safe and backed by regulators including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The company had argued to the California court that the jury decision should be thrown out in part because it conflicts with an EPA position preventing the company from putting a cancer-warning label on the product.

The court disagreed, finding that while the EPA currently says glyphosate isn't harmful to humans and that no cancer warning is needed, "that opinion, in the abstract, isn't binding on this court."

In shutting down separate arguments Bayer had made, the three-judge panel also said, "In our view, Johnson presented abundant -- and certainly substantial -- evidence that glyphosate, together with the other ingredients in Roundup products, caused his cancer." The judges pointed to experts who told jurors that Roundup could cause non-Hodgkin lymphoma generally as well as Mr. Johnson's cancer in particular.

The court reduced damages for economic loss to $10.2 million and said any punitive damage should match, granting total damages of $20.4 million. The judge who oversaw the trial had already reduced the original award to $78.5 million.

Brent Wisner, an attorney for Mr. Johnson, called the Monday ruling "another major victory" for Mr. Johnson and his family. He said the reduction in damages is "a function of a deep flaw in California tort law" that makes it difficult to have money awarded for a shortened lifespan, an issue he hopes would be addressed if the case goes to the California Supreme Court.

Bayer can still appeal the case to California's highest court. The company didn't immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.

Glyphosate's safety came under scrutiny in 2015 after the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a unit of the World Health Organization, classified glyphosate as likely having the potential to cause cancer.

Write to Sara Randazzo at sara.randazzo@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 20, 2020 16:33 ET (20:33 GMT)

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