© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The Bayer AG logo sits on display at the headquarters in La Garenne-Colombes, near Paris, France, May 13, 2019. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo   BAYRY -0.46% Add to/Remove from Watchlist Add to Watchlist Add Position

Position added successfully to:


 
+ Add another position Close

(Reuters) -A California jury on Tuesday found Bayer (OTC:BAYRY) liable in a case brought by a man who claimed his cancer was due to exposure to the company's Roundup weed killer, and ordered it to pay $332 million in damages.


The verdict includes $7 million in compensatory damages and $325 million in punitive damages awarded to plaintiff Mike Dennis, who was diagnosed at age 51 with a form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, according to a spokesperson for the company.


The punitive damage award is almost certain to be reduced sharply, as the U.S. Supreme Court has found that punitive damages should be less than 10 times the compensatory damages in virtually all cases.


The jury sided with Bayer on two of four legal claims in the case, the spokesperson said, finding that while the company had failed to warn of Roundup's risks, it had not been negligent and the product was not defectively designed.


The company said in a statement that it has "strong arguments on appeal to get this unfounded verdict overturned and the unconstitutionally excessive damage award eliminated or reduced, given that there were significant and reversible legal and evidentiary errors made during this trial."


A lawyer for Dennis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.



This marks the third trial loss for Bayer this month, after being hit by a $175 million verdict and a $1.25 million verdict in two separate Roundup trials. Before that, it had won nine consecutive trials over similar claims.


Roundup-related lawsuits have dogged Bayer since it acquired the brand as part of its $63 billion purchase of Monsanto (NYSE:MON) in 2018. The company settled most Roundup claims against it in 2020 for up to $10.9 billion, but still faces close to 40,000 Roundup-related cases.


Bayer ordered to pay $332 million in Roundup cancer trial  

Nippon Steel lifts annual outlook on improved first-half margins

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The logos of Nippon Steel Corp. are didplayed at the company headquarters in

Micro stocks shine in China's flagging share market

© Reuters. Investors look at an electronic board showing stock information at a brokerage house in S

Oil gains ahead of Fed meeting as Middle East conflict persists

© Reuters. An aerial view shows an oil factory of Idemitsu Kosan Co. in Ichihara, east of Tokyo, Jap

Thales posts higher nine-month revenue, maintains targets

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The logo of Thales Group is seen during a visit at the Thales radar factory i

Nokia to axe up to 14,000 jobs to cut costs

Image source, Getty ImagesBy Mariko Oi & Tom EspinerBBC News Finnish telecoms giant Nokia is to

Auto Insurance Rates 2022

Auto Insurance Rates 2022

What is a SPAC

What is a SPAC

What is an IRA

What is an IRA

Debt Management Plans

Debt Management Plans

Sam Bankman-Fried's lawyer says FTX investments were not 'reckless'

By Luc Cohen NEW YORK (Reuters) -FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried's lawyer on Tuesday said the now-bank

Tyson Foods workers, activists protest child labor in US meat sector

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The logo of Tyson Foods is seen in Davos, Switzerland, May 22, 2022. REUTERS/

Mercenary hackers stole data that Exxon later cited in climate lawsuits -US prosecutors

© Reuters. XOM-0.06%Add to/Remove from WatchlistAdd to Watchlist