SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The Latest on $2 billion verdict against Monsanto (all times local):
7 p.m.
A Northern California couple both stricken with cancer they say was caused by Monsanto Co.’s weed killer say they still resent the company even after a jury awarded them over $2 billion.
Alberta Pilliod said Monday that she and her 74-year-old husband have each been battling cancer for the last nine years. The 76-year-old says she and her husband Alva Pilliod are unable to enjoy the same activities they participated in before their cancer diagnosis.
The Pilliods addressed the media at a San Francisco press conference a few hours after the jury delivered its verdict.
One of the Pilliods lawyers, Michael Miller, conceded that the $2 billion punitive damage award was likely to be reduced on appeal. But he argued that whatever Monsanto was likely to appeal any damage award and the Pilliods’ lawyers are prepared for a long legal battle.
___
4 p.m.
A law professor says it’s likely a trial judge or appellate court will significantly reduce a Northern California jury’s $2 billion punitive award against Monsanto Co.
University of California, Hastings School of Law professor David Levine said the ratio between the $2 billion in punitive damages and $55 million in compensatory damages is too high. He said judges rarely allow punitive damages to exceed four times actual damages awarded and often reduce awards with even lower ratio.
Alva and Alberta Pilliod claimed they used Roundup for more than 30 years to landscape their home and other properties. They were both diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
The California Supreme Court ruled in 2016 that any punitive damages exceeding 10 times the compensatory damages are likely unconstitutionally high. The state high court didn’t propose a ratio it felt correct, but said punitive damages should almost never exceed nine times actual damages.
___
3:10 p.m.
A jury ordered agribusiness giant Monsanto Co. to pay a combined $2.05 billion to a couple who claimed the company’s popular weed killer Roundup Ready caused their cancers.
The Oakland jury on Monday delivered Monsanto’s third such loss in California since August.
Alva and Alberta Pilliod claimed they used Roundup for more than 30 years to landscape their home and other properties. They were both diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
A federal jury in San Francisco previously ordered the weed killer maker to pay a man $80 million and a San Francisco jury in August awarded $289 million to a former greenskeeper, though a judge later reduced it.
The trials were the first of thousands of lawsuits against Monsanto involving 13,000 plaintiffs.
German chemical giant Bayer owns Monsanto and said it will appeal.
___
This item has been corrected to say that there are more than 13,000 plaintiffs in lawsuits against Monsanto.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.