Monsanto Case: $87M Award To Livermore Couple Upheld

LIVERMORE, CA — A Livermore couple's nearly $87 million jury award against Monsanto Co. was upheld Monday in a 2-1 ruling by a state appeals court two years after an Alameda County jury determined the company's Roundup herbicide caused Alberta and Alva Pilliod to develop cancer.

The California Court of Appeal, 1st Appellate District, determined the jury in 2019 could have reasonably inferred that Monsanto "was dismissive of concerns about" the safety of glyphosate, a key ingredient in Roundup, because it continued to sell the product despite studies linking the chemical to DNA damage.

An attorney for the company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. German industrial company Bayer AG acquired Monsanto in 2018.

The majority opinion was authored by Associate Justice Marla J. Miller and signed by Presiding Justice J. Anthony Kline.

The court noted in its majority opinion that Mark Mertens, a Monsanto toxicologist, said in the late 1990s that four studies "needed attention," including one that indicated Roundup was more harmful than glyphosate alone. Mertens recommended the company determine whether the formula "act[ed] synergistically to increase the potential genotoxicity" of glyphosate.

The court also determined that Monsanto attempted "to minimize concerns about the safety of Roundup, which further supports an inference that Monsanto acted with a conscious disregard of public safety."

The Pilliods used Roundup for more than 30 years on three properties they owned.

They both developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Alva Pilliod was in so much pain that he could barely move, required six chemotherapy rounds and was "not the same person he was before" treatment, according to court records. Alberta Pilliod stopped traveling and working and spent multiday stays in the hospital, the records said.

The Pilliods were initially awarded more than $2 billion by a jury in May 2019, but the trial court denied Monsanto's motion for a new trial as long as the couple agreed to accept a total combined sum of about $87 million.

Monsanto appealed in September 2019 and argued that the jury's liability findings were not backed by substantial evidence and that the award was excessive, among other things.

In the appeals court ruling, Associate Justice James A. Richman wrote a dissenting opinion.

He said he agreed with almost all of the majority opinion but believed that "Monsanto's reprehensibility is at the lower end" as it remains disputed that Roundup is carcinogenic at real-world exposure levels. That led him to conclude that the combined $68 million awarded in punitive damages was too high.

He called the amount initially awarded by the jury "a form of bootstrapping."

"A high award, even when reduced, still results in a high number," Richman wrote.

Both sides were ordered to pay their own legal fees in the appeals case.

Previous coverage: Livermore Couple's $2.055B Award Against Monsanto Reduced To $87M