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 The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco rejected
Bayer's argument that lawsuits like Edwin Hardeman's never should go
to trial because federal pesticide laws barred allegations that the
company failed to warn of Roundup's cancer risks.
"It's a slam dunk for plaintiffs," said Leslie Brueckner, an
attorney with Public Justice who helped with Hardeman's appeal.
"This proves these claims are viable in the tort system."
Bayer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A jury in 2019 awarded Hardeman $5 million in compensatory damages
and $75 million in punitive damages in the first federal case to
have gone to trial. The punitive award was later cut to $20 million
and the appeals court also upheld the reduction.
Friday's ruling was the first by a federal appeals court in a case
linking Roundup and cancer and Bayer had said the case had the
potential to "shape how every subsequent Roundup case is litigated."
Bayer has said that decades of studies have shown Roundup and other
glyphosate-based herbicides that dominate the market are safe for
human use.
The company has argued that glyphosate was approved by the
Environmental Protection Agency as safe for humans and that
regulators prevented Bayer from adding a warning to the product's
label.
But the company has spent years trying to contain the litigation.
Bayer has committed $9.6 billion to settle 125,000 claims over
Roundup.
It also wants to resolve potential legal claims of millions of
consumers and farm workers who have been exposed to Roundup and
might get sick in the future.
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 On Wednesday it will seek
preliminary approval for a controversial $2
billion proposed deal to resolve those future
claims through a class action that would group
those exposed to Roundup but who haven't gotten
sick.
Personal injury attorneys and consumer groups
have opposed the plan, which they say limits the
rights of Roundup users to sue.
Brueckner said Friday's ruling undermined one
argument for the class action settlement, which
was that Bayer might prevail in federal appeals
courts.
"The timing couldn't be more perfect," said
Brueckner, referring to Wednesday's hearing on
the class action agreement. "I doubt it was
accidental."
Elizabeth Cabraser, the class action attorney
who negotiated the class action agreement, said
she was pleased with Friday's ruling.
Proponents of the class action agreement argued
that it provides consumers free medical exams to
monitor their health. If consumers were
diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, they could
receive compensation worth up to $200,000 and
free legal advice to assess their options.
The deal also pauses litigation against Bayer
for four years and if someone rejected the
compensation and sued, they could not seek
punitive damages.
"The more verdicts against Bayer, the more
pressure there is on the company to pull Roundup
from the market or agree to a more generous
settlement," said David Noll, a professor with
Rutgers Law School.
(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware;
additional reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston;
Editing by Dan Grebler and Diane Craft)
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