A Missouri man who developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma after using a popular weedkiller for decades wants the Supreme Court to reject the manufacturer’s request to grant it immunity from his lawsuit and thousands of others.
John Durnell in a brief filed Monday says a jury found that Monsanto’s Roundup caused his blood cancer and that the company is liable for damages. But, he added, the company is arguing “as it has argued with little success for years” that it should be immune from lawsuits that it says are barred by federal law.
His filing comes after Bayer in April asked the high court to determine whether the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) should invalidate thousands of lawsuits that claim the company has a duty to warn about health risks from the product.
Bayer acquired Monsanto in 2018, and the company has been inundated with what it says were “unfounded” legal challenges across the country from customers alleging the weedkiller was responsible for their cancers.
