Breaking News: Calif. Supreme Court Upholds Couple’s $86 Million Award in Roundup Weedkiller Case

On Wednesday, November 17th 2021, California’s highest court rejected a challenge by Bayer-owned Monsanto to an $86.2 million settlement awarded to the Pilliods. Alva and Alberto Pilliod developed cancer after spraying Roundup weed-killer in their yards for 30 years, and their case is the third Roundup case to go before a jury. The Pilliods had their case expedited to trial due to their advanced ages and cancer diagnoses.

The Pilliods won their initial trail in 2019 when the jury found Monsanto liable for knowingly marketing a dangerous product and warded the Pilliods $2.055 billion. A judge later reduced the verdict to $86.7 million, but the case went on to survive appeal. This August, the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco affirmed the verdict, finding that Monsanto demonstrated “conscious disregard for the safety of others.” And yesterday, the California Supreme Court denied Bayer’s request for review of the appeal’s court decision.

“This is not even remotely surprising,” says Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman attorney R. Brent Wisner, who served as co-lead counsel for the Pilliods at trial. “It’s not clear how many times Monsanto needs to lose before it stops making frivolous appeals. The Pilliod verdict was based on solid science and unanimous law. They need to stop using the appeals process to deny paying this family its judgment.”

 “We hope that this case helps to bolster the already robust argument against glyphosate based products,” said Mackenzie Feldman, Executive Director of Herbicide-Free Campus. “This is why we fight this fight, we can not continue to let students and groundskeepers expose themselves to these toxic products. Schools must transition away from such toxic chemicals, it’s a liability to continue to use them.”

Over 100,000 people have filed cases against Monsanto alleging cancer caused by Roundup. This monumental win in the saga of the Pilliod case adds to the growing scientific and legal proof that glyphosate based products are carcinogenic, and that Monsanto, like Big Tobacco and Big Oil, is actively deceiving customers and consumers.