CVN screenshots of plaintiff attorney Aimee Wagstaff (left) and Katherine Hacker (right)
Clayton, MO - Opening statements took place Wednesday in Missouri state court in the latest trial over allegations that Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide causes cancer, and the proceedings are being webcast gavel-to-gavel by Courtroom View Network.
Plaintiff Sharlean Gordon claims she developed cancer at the age of 39 due to using Roundup in handheld spray bottles with her stepfather as a child. Her lawsuit, like thousands of other pending cases involving Roundup, claims a key chemical component of the popular herbicide - glyphosate - is carcinogenic and that Monsanto withheld that information from the public to protect sales.
Bayer-owned Monsanto denies any links between glyphosate exposure and cancer, arguing that lawsuits claiming otherwise are based on fundamentally flawed science.
The full trial is being webcast and recorded gavel-to-gavel by CVN, which also recorded the first Roundup trial in St. Louis County, Missouri, ending in a defense verdict.
Aimee Wagstaff of the Wagstaff Law Firm delivered the opening statement on behalf of the plaintiff, and Katherine Hacker of Barlit Beck LLP delivered Monsanto’s opening statement.
The closely watched trial takes place in the wake of a string of defense verdicts for Monsanto in Roundup cases, which provided a reset after initial blockbuster verdicts for early plaintiffs set the stage for the settlement of thousands of Roundup claims.
A plaintiff win in the Gordon case would also be of added significance due to the trial’s venue of St. Louis County, just miles from Monsanto’s former US headquarters. St. Louis County is also generally known for more conservative juries than in the neighboring City of St. Louis, where numerous Roundup lawsuits are also pending.
The trial is taking place before Judge Brian May, and CVN’s coverage will continue for the duration of the proceedings.
The case is Sharlean Gordon v. Monsanto Co., case number 17SL-CC02721 in Missouri’s 21st Judicial Circuit.
E-mail David Siegel at dsiegel@cvn.com