A man who claimed Roundup weedkiller caused his cancer has been awarded nearly $2.1 billion (£1.6bn) in compensation and damages by a US jury.
The verdict marks the latest in a long-running series of court battles Monsanto has faced over its Roundup herbicide. The settlement is one of the largest to date.
The agrochemical giant says it will appeal the verdict, reached in a Georgia courtroom on Friday.
The penalties awarded include $65 million in compensatory damages and $2 billion in punitive damages, law firms Arnold & Itkin LLP and Kline & Specter PC said in a statement.
Plaintiff John Barnes filed his lawsuit against Monsanto in 2021, seeking damages related to his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Arnold & Itkin attorney Kyle Findley, the lead trial lawyer on the case, said the verdict will help put his client in a better position to get the treatment he needs going forward.
“It’s been a long road for him ... and he was happy that the truth related to the product (has) been exposed,” Findley said on Sunday.
He called the verdict an “important milestone” after "another example of Monsanto’s refusal to accept responsibility for poisoning people with this toxic product.”
Germany-based Bayer, which acquired Monsanto in 2018, has continued to dispute claims that Roundup causes cancer. But the company has been hit with more than 177,000 lawsuits involving the weedkiller and set aside $16 billion to settle cases.
In a statement, Monsanto said Friday's verdict “conflicts with the overwhelming weight of scientific evidence and the consensus of regulatory bodies and their scientific assessments worldwide.” The company added that it continues “to stand fully behind the safety” of Roundup products.
For a variety of crops — including corn, soybeans and cotton — Roundup is designed to work with genetically modified seeds that resist the weedkiller’s deadly effect. It allows farmers to produce more while conserving the soil by tilling it less.
Some studies associate Roundup’s key ingredient, glyphosate, with cancer, although the US Environmental Protection Agency has said it is not likely to be carcinogenic to humans when used as directed. Still, numerous lawsuits over the weedkiller allege glyphosate does cause non-Hodgkin lymphoma, arguing that Monsanto has failed to warn the public about serious risks for years.
Friday's decision marks the fourth Roundup-related verdict that Findley's team has won to date — the largest of which was awarded in Philadelphia in January 2024, with damages totalling $2.25 billion. And he said his law firm has “many more clients who are similarly situated as Mr. Barnes.”
Monsanto, meanwhile, also maintains that it “remains committed to trying cases” — and argues its wider record of Roundup-related litigation continues to reinforce the safety of its products. The company said it has prevailed in 17 of the last 25 related trials, while some previous damage awards have been reduced.
Bayer has recently renewed and expanded an effort across a handful of US states to protect pesticide companies from claims they failed to warn that a product causes cancer, if labelling otherwise complies with EPA regulations.
The company and other industry supports argue that litigation costs are unstainable and could impact Roundup’s future availability. But opponents stress that such legislation would limit accountability.
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