PHILADELPHIA – In the first local trial against the manufacturers of weed killer product Roundup, a Philadelphia jury found on Friday both that the product caused the cancer of the 83-year-old plaintiff, and that the failure to warn of the product’s carcinogenic properties justified a $175 million verdict.
Attorneys for plaintiff Ernest Caranci, a retired restaurateur, and his wife Carmela Caranci, had argued that more than 20 years of regular use of Roundup, a chemical herbicide containing glyphosate, caused Ernest to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
The couple then filed suit in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas in June 2021, versus Monsanto Company, Bayer AG (which acquired Monsanto in 2018) and the hardware stores where Ernest purchased Roundup – though by the time the case saw the courtroom for trial, all defendants had been dismissed from the case with the exception of Monsanto.
With the jury slated at 10-2 in favor of the plaintiffs, its verdict amount consisted $25 million in compensatory damages and a whopping $150 million in punitive damages, against Monsanto. Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas Judge James C. Crumlish III presided over the action.
R. Brent Wisner of Wisner Baum, who had previously helped notch a $2 billion verdict against Monsanto in 2019, hailed the verdict as justice for the plaintiffs and a reckoning for the company.
“It’s a tremendous result. This case has always been about the science, and this new verdict puts a huge exclamation point on that fact. It’s about time for Monsanto to finally, once and for all, pull this product off the market and negotiate a global settlement. It’s time to bring an end to the glyphosate chapter in our country,” Wisner said.
Monsanto had won nine consecutive trials, but that streak was snapped on Oct. 20 by a $1.25 million jury verdict for plaintiff John Durnell in a St. Louis courtroom.
Another similar case in San Diego. for plaintiff Mike Dennis, remains to be decided.
In a statement, a Bayer spokesperson said the company disagreed with the verdict and felt “confident we can get this unfounded verdict overturned, and the excessive damage awards reduced through our appeal.”
According to Bayer, Roundup and its main component glyphosate are safe for use.
While Bayer settled the vast majority of Roundup-based lawsuit against it in 2020 for $10.9 billion, almost 40,000 such cases against the company remain to be decided.
The second trial in Philadelphia’s mass tort program from Roundup is due to begin next week, on Nov. 6.
Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas case 210602213
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com