Johnson v. Monsanto Company (Court of Appeal, First Appellate Dist. San Francisco No. A155940): On July 20, 2020 the Court of Appeal rejected defendant Monsanto’s effort to overturn the trial of plaintiff Dewayne Johnson. Johnson prevailed in an underlaying state matter wherein he alleged that he developed cancer as a result of being exposed to glyphosate herbicides contained in Monstanto’s Roundup product. Although defendant’s attempt to overturn the jury verdict was unsuccessful, the prior award of $78 million was reduced to $20 million. In it’s opinion, the court rejected defendant’s argument that scientific findings linking glyphosate to cancer was a “minority view” and also opined that punitive damages were appropriate due to Monsanto’s “willful misconduct”.
