A San Diego County judge has sharply slashed the possible payout that Monsanto faces from a headline-grabbing jury verdict last fall at the close of a trial over a man's claims that Roundup herbicide caused his cancer.
On Feb. 26, San Diego County Superior Court Judge Kevin A. Enright declared a jury had gone too far in awarding plaintiff Mike Dennis $332 million for his alleged injuries. He cut the actual award to a total of $28 million.
While denying Monsanto's requests to toss out the verdict entirely or to grant a new trial, Judge Enright said the damages awarded by the jury were out of balance.
The judge did not upset the jury's award of $7 million in compensatory damages.
He said he believed the evidence at trial showed Dennis had "presented ample evidence of Monsanto engaging in highly reprehensible conduct, including evidence of Plaintiff's physical harm and suffering."
But the judge said $325 million in punitive damages - or damages awarded entirely to punish a defendant and perhaps deter them and others from engaging in similar conduct in the future - was far too high.
".. The Court is still convinced that Plaintiff's award of $325 million in punitive damages violates due process by lacking a 'reasonable relationship' to the $7 million in compensatory damages awarded to the Plaintiff and exceeds the constitutional threshold," Judge Enright wrote.
While noting that no California law or prior court decisions dictate what a "reasonable" ratio of punitive damages to compensatory damages may be, the judge said a 3-to-1 ratio in this case "strikes a balance" among various factors courts have used to calculate and set punitive damages. He set punitive damages at $21 million, finding such an award "does not exceed the state's power to punish."
In a statement following the ruling, a Monsanto spokesperson said the company was "pleased" with the ruling, but still planned to appeal the judge's decision to allow the verdict to stand.
“We are pleased with the court’s decision to significantly reduce the unconstitutionally excessive damage award by more than 90%, consistent with reductions made to damages overall in the first three Roundup trials," Monsanto said.
"However, we disagree with the court’s ruling that allows the liability verdict to stand, as it is at odds with the extensive weight of scientific evidence and the consistent assessments of expert regulators and scientists worldwide.
"Monsanto will be filing an appeal as the Dennis trial was marred by significant and reversible legal and evidentiary errors that unfairly prejudiced the Company and distracted from the scientific causation issues that are central to this case. The Company has post-trial motions pending in other Roundup cases seeking to vacate these verdicts, or at a minimum, similarly reduce the excessive damages awarded in these cases or have the verdicts vacated.”
In a statement emailed to The Southern California Record, attorney Scott Love, of the law firm of Clark Love & Hutson, who represented Dennis at trial, said: "Unfortunately, California has strict caps on punitive damage. The judge correctly applied the law and wrote a thoughtful opinion completely eviscerating Monsanto’s grounds for appeal. We are very confident that the verdict will be sustained on appeal."
The judge's decision comes four months since the San Diego County jury verdict that generated headlines across the country.
The case was one of thousands filed against Monsanto and its parent company Bayer over Roundup exposure.
Across the country, juries have delivered wildly different verdicts. In California, juries have ordered the company to pay almost $2.4 billion in damages.
The most recent U.S. roundup verdict at the end of January topped $2.2 billion, ordered by a jury in Philadelphia. Other verdicts in Philadelphia, for instance, have ranged from $3.5 million to $175 million.
The dozens of trials have come after Bayer Monsanto agreed in 2020 to pay $11 billion to settle most claims related to Roundup exposure.
The $332 million verdict in the Dennis case came last fall at the conclusion of a three-week trial that began Oct. 9.
The verdict was hailed at the time by attorneys, including Adam Peavy, who represented Dennis.
"Monsanto has been selling chemicals that cause cancer for years," Peavy said at the time in a statement posted to his Linkedin page. "After a long trial, the jury made them pay today."
Peavy has not posted a statement in response to the judge's reduction in damages. He also did not respond to a request for comment from The Southern California Record.