Bayer to Focus On Overturning Edwin Haldeman Verdict At The Supreme Court

Bayer attorneys have made the strategic legal decision not to appeal their initial court loss to DeWayne Lee Johnson and focus their efforts on having the $80 million Edwin Haldeman verdict overturned by the Supreme Court

Friday, March 26, 2021 - The DeWayne Lee Johnson case was the first of three devastating court losses for Bayer and laid the groundwork for a Roundup cancer settlement offer of over $12 billion. Mr. Johnson worked as a landscape maintenance employee for a California state school system. His job included spraying Roundup weedkiller for hours every week and removing the debris. Johnson described that he would routinely come home soaked head to toe in Roundup herbicide and would then shower. One day he noticed he had a rash on the exposed areas of his hands and face. The rash progressed and eventually, his entire body became covered in cancerous legions. The San Francisco Chronicle described him. "At the time of the trial in 2018, Johnson, 46, was severely ill with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, with lesions covering his body, and his doctors said he had two years to live. He is still alive." The California jury originally awarded him $289 million, and told reporters, "Monsanto acted with a conscious disregard for public safety." Two state appeals courts adjusted the award down to $21.5 million on statutory grounds. Johnson alleged that using Roundup caused his cancer and that the company had an obligation to warn occupational users of the weedkiller to wear protective waterproof clothing and to avoid direct skin contact. Bayer has decided not to make further appeals. Roundup Cancer attorneys continue to accept cases for people who have used the weedkiller regularly for years and have developed cancer.

Instead, Bayer will focus their Supreme Court appeal efforts on overturning the second of their two losses, this one to California man Edwin Hardeman. Hardeman, 70, lived in Sonoma County, California, on over 50 acres, where from 1986 to 2012, he sprayed Roundup herbicide on poison oak and weeds. In the spring of 2019, a California court awarded Hardeman $5 million in compensatory compensation and added $75 million in punitive damages for a total of $80 million. The award was reduced to $25 million, but Bayer still plans to appeal. Hardeman developed Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma after decades of using Roundup, alleging like Johson, that the company should have warned him to take safety precautions.

Bayer's appeal of the Haldeman jury verdict against them will focus on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) endorsement of glyphosate, Roundup's active ingredient as safe. The EPA made a public statement in support of glyphosate's safety, timed to coincide with Haldeman's jury deliberations. On January 30, 2020, the EPA released the following statement: "After a thorough review of the best available science, as required under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, EPA has concluded that there are no risks of concern to human health when glyphosate is used according to the label and that it is not a carcinogen." Bayer attorneys will argue to have the plaintiff's expert testimony stricken and replace it pre-emptively with the EPA's opinion.

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Attorneys handling Roundup cancer lawsuits for leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and multiple myeloma offer free, no-obligation case review for individuals and families who believe they may have grounds to file a Roundup cancer lawsuit. Working on a contingency basis, these attorneys are committed to never charging legal fees unless they win compensation in your Roundup cancer lawsuit. The product liability litigators handling Roundup claims at the Onder Law Firm have a strong track record of success in representing families harmed by dangerous drugs and consumer products.