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Marietta, GA— Jurors on Friday handed down a $2 billion verdict against Monsanto after finding the company and its Roundup-brand weed killer responsible for a Georgia man’s cancer, in what his attorneys say is the first such case to go to trial in a Georgia state court. Barnes v. Monsanto Co., 21-A-444.
The award, which capped a three-week trial, includes $65 million in compensatory damages for the non-Hodgkin lymphoma John Barnes developed after allegedly using the herbicide, and $2 billion in punitive damages imposed against Bayer-owned Monsanto.
Barnes, who says he used the company’s weedkiller in his yard for years, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2020. He claims glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, caused his cancer and Monsanto failed to warn him of the product’s dangers.
The case is among thousands of similar claims across the country alleging Roundup caused consumers’ non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a form of blood cancer. And trial centered in large part on glyphosate’s alleged links to the disease and Monsanto’s conduct across decades of selling the product.
Monsanto contends that there is no reliable link between glyphosate and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. During his closing, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings' Thomas Warburton walked jurors through years of studies that he said determined there was no statistically significant association between the chemical and the disease. And he said those studies were reinforced by Environmental Protection Agency conclusions.
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“[The EPA] concluded, after looking at all the information [that], glyphosate, Roundup does not increase any risk of cancer,” Warburton said. “If at any time the EPA thought Roundup or glyphosate caused cancer, it would have pulled it from the shelves…. [O]r it would have required a label that said, tell folks about cancer,” Warburton added. “They did not do that, because the science and the data don’t support it.”
But in his closing, Arnold & Itkin’s Kyle Findley, representing Barnes, countered with evidence he says connects glyphosate to cancer. And he told jurors evidence, including internal company documents, showed Monsanto knew of glyphosate’s links to non-Hodgkin lymphoma, but failed to warn the public, worked for decades to undercut studies showing the chemical’s risks, and lobbied to avoid any warnings.
“For 50 years, they have gotten away with these actions over and over again,” Findley said. “It’s in black and white. It’s in their emails. Willful misconduct: where they are intentionally not warning the public, intentionally manipulating scientific journals,” Findley added. “It was fraud. It was malice.”
In an emailed statement after the verdict, Findley told CVN he believed the verdict was supported by overwhelming scientific evidence linking glyphosate to cancer. And he added that he believed the $2 billion punitive award likely reflected the company's conduct related to the issue.
"It appears the punitive verdict was driven by Monsanto’s continuous refusal to acknowledge that the public has the right to be informed of the risks of this product," Findley wrote. "Instead, they continue to sell a poison without regard for any warnings – putting sales over safety."
In an emailed statement after the verdict, a Monsanto spokesperson told CVN the company would appeal the decision, which it maintains goes against the weight of scientific evidence.
“The Company remains committed to trying cases, having secured favorable outcomes in 17 of the last 25 trials,” the spokesperson wrote. “Our track record demonstrates that we win when plaintiffs’ attorneys and their experts are not allowed to misrepresent the worldwide regulatory and scientific assessments that continue to support the products’ safety.”
Email Arlin Crisco at acrisco@cvn.com.
Related information
John Barnes is represented by Kyle Findley, Noah Wexler, and Kala Sellers, from Arnold & Itkin; Frank Bayuk, from Bayuk Pratt; and John Bevis, from Barnes Law Group.
Monsanto is represented by William Holley and Thomas Warburton, from Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, and John Kalas, from Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough
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