Supreme Court weeds out $28 million Roundup ruling

The Supreme Court reversed a $28 million ruling against Monsanto, likely closing the door on failure-to-warn lawsuits over Roundup nationwide. Mike Dennis of Carlsbad, California, had won a jury verdict after arguing Monsanto failed to warn him Roundup could cause cancer, which he developed after exposure. A jury initially awarded him $332 million; courts trimmed that to $21 million before Monsanto kept appealing.

The reversal rode in on the coattails of a separate case, Missouri farmer John Durnell's, where the Court ruled 7-2 in June that federal pesticide law preempts state failure-to-warn claims because the EPA had approved Roundup's labels without a cancer warning. Justice Kavanaugh wrote the majority opinion; Jackson and Gorsuch dissented. Dennis's case was vacated and sent back down for reconsideration in light of that ruling.

Monsanto, now owned by Bayer, said it was pleased and will ask the California appellate court to vacate the verdict entirely. Dennis's lawyer could not be reached for comment.

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