Judge orders Roundup cancer victim to accept lower award

A groundskeeper in California has until December to accept a $78 million offer from Monsanto after a judge for the Superior Court of California County of San Francisco reduced the $298 judgment from a jury.

It’s a case that could have a bearing on lawsuits filed by Oklahomans against Monsanto.

Judge Suzanne Bolanos upheld the verdict that found Monsanto liable for the cancer developed after Dwayne Johnson, a former pest control manager for a California school system had prolonged exposure to Roundup and other Monsanto products. But the judge also reduced the original amount of damages to $78 million.

The order requires Johnson to accept the reduced amount before December 7 or a new trial will be granted as to the punitive damages only.

Johnson contended the company failed to warn him of cancerous side effects in their products. The jury awarded the $298 million in August and $250 million was punitive.

Writing for the court, Judge Suzanne Bolanos denied Monsanto’s Motion for Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict (JNOV), finding no evidence to disturb the jury’s verdict. However, Bolanos determined that the punitive damages awarded here were inappropriate.

Under California law, Johnson was required “to prove by clear and convincing evidence that an officer, director, or managing agent of Monsanto acted with malice or opposition in the conduct that gave rise to liability.” Although finding that this standard had been met, Bolanos determined that the putative damages in this matter violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as observed by the US Supreme Court in State Farm v. Campbell.

Relying on California precedent, Bolanos ordered the punitive damages to be reduced to the maximum allowed under law, equal to that of compensatory damages which is just over $39.25 million.

Monsanto faces a handful of lawsuits in California that were filed by Oklahomans who also contend the Roundup weed killer caused their cancers. Their lawsuits were transferred from Oklahoma City to California.