Originally published on Agri-Pulse by Steve Davies at 11/29/23 6:20 AM
The attorney in that case, however, told Courtroom View Network that the verdict was significant because Bayer had not offered any money to settle.
“The tide is turning back as we gain more knowledge about the tobacco-company style defense of Monsanto,” attorney T. Roe Frazer II of Frazer Law said.
Bayer, however, appears determined to stay the course.
“Our strategy — and I won’t go into a lot of the details — is really continuing to [keep] pointing outthe science to the juries in the various courtrooms,” Nickl said. He also mentioned the recent decision from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals finding California’s cancer warning label for Roundup was unconstitutional.
That’s a very, very strong signal,” Nickl said.
Bayer issued a statement after the $1.56 billion verdict in Missouri , voicing its intention to appeal and addressing the four losses.
“We have strong arguments to get the recent unfounded verdicts overturned and the excessive and unconstitutional damages eliminated or greatly reduced,” the company said. “Damages weregreatly reduced in the three early trials the company lost.”
In those cases, which received wide publicity, juries returned awards of about $2.4 billion. On ap-peal, however, those awards were drastically reduced, leaving the plaintiffs with $132.57 million.
The recent headlines have caused some investors to shudder. Institutional investor UnionInvestment in Frankfurt, Germany, called on Bayer earlier this month to rethink its legal strategy.
“Bayer should review its strategy again now to avoid further negative headlines,” Markus Manns, a senior portfolio manager for German firm Union Investment, told Reuters after the first three losses following the winning streak.
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