Roundup Weed Killer Lawsuit

The active ingredient in Roundup is a chemical called Glyphosate, which has been categorized as “probably carcinogenic to humans” by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Specifically, Glyphosate has been determined to cause a form of blood cancer called Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL). There are more than 90 types of NHL, and approximately 80,000 people are diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma every year in the United States.

Two recent court cases in Northern California revealed that Monsanto has been deliberately misleading its customers about the dangers of Roundup for decades. In these cases, two separate juries found that Monstanto (1) knew Glyphosate/Roundup caused cancer, and (2) lied to their customers about the dangers of using it.

In August 2018, San Francisco jurors awarded Dewayne Johnson $39 million in compensatory damages and $250 million in punitive damages after finding that Monsanto “acted with malice” and knew or should have known that its chemicals were “dangerous”. Mr. Johnson worked as a groundskeeper for a public-school district near San Francisco and part of his duties included spraying Roundup at various schools in the district. After a couple of years of exposure to Roundup, Mr. Johnson noticed rashes and other forms of skin irritations. Mr. Johnson eventually found out that his symptoms were those of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.

In early 2019, a federal jury in San Francisco awarded Edwin Hardeman $5.27 million in compensatory damages and $75 million in punitive damages after finding that Roundup was a “substantial factor” in causing his NHL. Mr. Hardeman used Roundup on his property for over 26 years, before learning he had Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in 2015.