By Tyler Durden

A choose in Missouri has considerably decreased a jury award towards Bayer AG’s Monsanto unit, slicing down the punitive damages from a $1.5 billion verdict to about $550 million, based on Fortune.

This resolution comes amid Monsanto’s ongoing authorized battles over allegations that its Roundup weedkiller causes most cancers. Whereas the choose, Daniel Inexperienced, declined Monsanto’s request for a brand new trial or to dismiss the decision solely, the discount in damages supplies some monetary reduction to Bayer.

The corporate, which acquired Monsanto for $63 billion in 2018, plans to attraction the whole verdict, arguing that the damages are nonetheless excessively excessive.

The unique verdict awarded three plaintiffs a mixed $61.1 million in precise damages and $500 million every in punitive damages for claims that Roundup use led to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

The punitive damages had been adjusted to align with Supreme Court docket steerage, which suggests punitive awards mustn’t exceed 10 occasions the precise damages.

Fortune reported that Bayer has already allotted as much as $16 billion to settle over 100,000 related circumstances, and it’s now going through a brand new wave of litigation.

The corporate has additionally dedicated to changing glyphosate in its U.S. shopper Roundup merchandise with different weed-killing components. The Missouri case, involving plaintiffs from throughout the U.S., highlights the continued controversy and authorized challenges surrounding Roundup and its alleged well being dangers.

“Whereas the courtroom decreased the unconstitutionally extreme injury award, the corporate believes that the courtroom didn’t apply the legislation appropriately on damages,” the corporate commented.

Jay Utley, a lawyer for the previous Roundup customers, added: “The choose really agreed with the plaintiffs’ suggestion the punitive-damages quantities be decreased to 9 occasions their precise damages.”

He concluded: “The awards align with the proof of Monsanto’s willful, malicious, and reckless disregard for the security of customers and the accidents suffered by these plaintiffs.”

Supply: ZeroHedge