The jury in San Bernardino County found that Donnetta Stephens’ cancer was not caused by her exposure between 1985 and 2017 to Roundup and its active ingredient glyphosate.

She sued the company for negligence and failing to warn her of the dangers of Roundup.

“Despite everyone’s best efforts, it was impossible to try a coherent case via Zoom with our schedule,” said Fletch Trammell, Stephens’ attorney. “We plan to appeal and look forward to trying the case again in more favourable circumstances.”

Trammell noted similar cases typically took weeks to try and the Stephens case took more than four months due to technical problems and long breaks.

Bayer said the verdict was consistent with the evidence.

The Stephens case is the fifth over Roundup to go to a trial verdict.

Plaintiffs were awarded tens of millions of dollars in the first three but Bayer got its first favourable trial outcome on Oct. 5, which lifted the company’s stock price.

The company said in May it would be more selective in settling cases and had said Stephens’ settlement demands were unreasonable.

Roundup-related lawsuits have dogged the company since it acquired the top-selling brand as part of its US$63 billion purchase of agricultural seeds and pesticides maker Monsanto in 2018.

The company has spent billions of dollars to settle around 96,000 Roundup cases of about 125,000.

Bayer is still pursuing appeals in two of the three verdicts it lost, including one the company hopes will be considered by the U.S. Supreme Court, where a ruling for Bayer could effectively end the Roundup cases.

— Reporting for Reuters by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware.

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Destiny Clark alleged that her son Ezra developed Burkitt’s lymphoma after he was exposed to Roundup which she sprayed on weeds at the family residence.

Clark sued Monsanto, which is owned by Bayer, for failing to warn her of the cancer risks of using Roundup.

The verdict is the fourth involving Roundup and the first in the company’s favour.

Roundup-related lawsuits have dogged Bayer since it acquired the brand as part of its US$63 billion purchase of agricultural seeds and pesticides maker Monsanto in 2018.

Bayer said in a statement the verdict was consistent with decades of science and research showing the safety of glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup.

“While we have great sympathy for Ezra Clark and his family, the jury carefully considered the science applicable to this case and determined that Roundup was not the cause of his illness,” the company said.

An attorney for Clark said they will consider an appeal.

“We’re disappointed for the boy and his family,” said Fletcher Trammel. “We have multiple Roundup cases set across the country over the next year and look forward to trying them.”

Two of the other three verdicts are still being appealed by Bayer, including one the company hopes will be considered by the U.S. Supreme Court, where a ruling for Bayer could effectively end the Roundup cases.

The company has settled around 96,000 Roundup cases of about 125,000.

In May, a federal judge rejected Bayer’s plan to resolve future cases, which would have provided compensation but limited the ability of individuals to sue.

— Reporting for Reuters by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware.

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U.S. District Court Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco said the proposal “would accomplish a lot for Monsanto,” which Bayer acquired for $63 billion in 2018, and “would accomplish far less for the Roundup users” who are currently healthy (all figures US$).

The agreement would have paused litigation linking Roundup to non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) for four years and would have barred Roundup users from seeking punitive damages once the pause on litigation expired.

In return, users could be eligible for free medical exams and compensation if they were diagnosed with NHL.

The proposed class action settlement was aimed at claims by people who have been exposed to the herbicide and who become sick in the future.

Separately, Bayer has committed up to $9.6 billion to resolve ongoing claims of people who blame glyphosate — the main active ingredient in Roundup — for an existing illness. The company’s CEO told analysts this month that 90,000 existing claims have been resolved and 30,000 are still being negotiated.

The company has said that decades of studies have shown that Roundup and glyphosate are safe for human use. Bayer did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the judge’s decision.

Bayer, which inherited both the Roundup brand and the litigation from its acquisition of Monsanto, said last June its proposed U.S. settlements “have no bearing on litigation in Canada” and the company is “not contemplating a settlement of the Canadian cases related to glyphosate.”

‘No closure’

Bayer has been criticized by consumer advocates for fighting efforts to add a warning label to Roundup or pull it from the herbicide market, which it dominates along with other glyphosate products.

Chhabria had suggested a warning label might provide a way to prevent future lawsuits, which are based on the theory that Bayer failed to warn consumers of Roundup’s link to cancer.

Bayer has called the class action settlement proposal one of the “building blocks” to “provide closure” on the Roundup litigation.

Leslie Brueckner, an attorney with Public Justice, which objected to the proposal, called the ruling important for public health and said the risk of substantial punitive damages might force Bayer to change.

Chhabria’s ruling meant the company faced continued lawsuits, she said.

“So as long as Roundup stays on the market, Bayer will continue to be sued by Roundup victims who get NHL,” said Brueckner. “That means no closure.”

The four-year plan would have grouped potentially millions of residential users and farm laborers in a class and provided them the medical exams and up to $200,000 if they were diagnosed with NHL.

Chhabria’s six-page order cast doubt on the value of the medical exam offer, given the 10-year to 15-year lag time between exposure and potential onset of cancer symptoms.

He also said most claimants could expect $60,000 or less in compensation and that compensation might not be available after the plan expired.

Attorneys for the class said at last week’s hearing that Bayer could extend the agreement and provide additional compensation.

The judge also questioned how healthy users of Roundup could be adequately notified of a settlement that bound them in the future if they develop NHL.

“Mere tweaks cannot salvage the agreement,” Chhabria said.

— Reporting for Reuters by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware.

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Bayer and class action attorneys hope U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco will give preliminary approval on Wednesday to create a class of people exposed to Roundup who could get sick in the future.

The agreement would provide free medical exams and up to $200,000 in compensation if a class member is diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer (all figures US$).

Chhabria in a court filing asked if it was possible to contact the potentially millions of homeowners and farmworkers who have been exposed to Roundup to notify them they were going to be bound by the settlement.

He also wanted to know how he would determine if the compensation was adequate and whether he should evaluate the plan against other options, including Bayer adding a cancer warning label to Roundup, something the company has resisted.

Chhabria noted in his final question that jury trials have gone very well for plaintiffs. Given that, the judge asked why class members should agree to a settlement that requires them to present at future trials a report from a science panel that will spend the next four years determining if Roundup causes cancer.

“The last question is a killer,” said David Noll, a professor at Rutgers Law School.

The company has said decades of studies have shown Roundup and its active ingredient glyphosate do not cause cancer and are safe for human use. Consumer groups and personal injury lawyers have criticized the plan because it prevents lawsuits for four years and bars class members from seeking punitive damages.

Bayer said in a statement that judges often raise questions for parties to address prior to hearings.

“We look forward to working with the court and the parties through the approval process to ensure the class plan is fair to all parties,” the company said.

Chhabria said if his nine areas of concern were addressed at the hearing, a second hearing would be scheduled to deal with smaller concerns.

The company last June agreed to commit $9.6 billion to settle the existing 125,000 U.S.-based claims over Roundup, which is separate from the class settlement aimed at resolving future claims.

Bayer inherited the glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup, and the litigation, as part of its $63 billion acquisition of Monsanto in 2018.

The Canadian arm of Bayer CropScience last June said those settlements “have no bearing on litigation in Canada” and the company is “not contemplating a settlement of the Canadian cases related to glyphosate.”

— Reporting for Reuters by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware.

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The hearing was a contrast to the contentious tone among the parties last month that raised concerns the framework deal might unravel.

Ken Feinberg, who is mediating talks, said his “optimism knows no bounds,” and that he expected the next set of cases scheduled for trial to soon settle.

U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco kept a stay on litigation until Nov. 2 and asked the parties for a status update at that time.

The parties have binding deals to resolve about 45,000 of the 125,000 filed and unfiled claims, according to attorneys involved. Settlements have been reached with each of the lawyers who took cases to trial.

Bayer, which acquired Roundup with its purchase of Monsanto for $63 billion in 2018, agreed in June to pay around $11 billion to settle the lawsuits, which have pummeled the company’s share price (all figures US$).

The company’s Bayer CropScience arm said at the time its settlements will “apply only to U.S. litigation” and the company is “not contemplating a settlement of the Canadian cases related to glyphosate.”

Bayer’s stock closed down one per cent on Thursday at 54.41 euros (C$84.78). Shares have slumped from a high of around 73 euros since the June settlement announcement.

Chhabria had questioned the fairness of the settlement plan, which proposed using an independent scientific panel to assess whether glyphosate-based weedkillers such as Roundup caused cancer.

Days later, Bayer said it would revise that part of the proposal.

Bayer has said Roundup is safe and important to farmers who use the herbicide in combination with the company’s genetically modified seeds.

In 2015, the World Health Organization’s cancer research arm determined the herbicide to be a “probable carcinogen.” U.S. and the European regulators have determined glyphosate to be non-carcinogenic.

— Tom Hals reports on U.S. and international corporate law for Reuters from Wilmington, Del.

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