Bayer is sticking to its legal strategy of trying individual Roundup cases in court, even as a series of recent losses has some investors and plaintiffs’ lawyers questioning the wisdom of that approach.
After nine victories in a row in trial courts, Bayer has lost four straight cases, the latest a whopping $1.56 billion jury verdict out of state court in Missouri. In that case, three plaintiffs claimed exposure to Bayer’s Roundup [glyphosate] herbicide caused their cancer, and the jury concluded the company failed to adequately warn them of the product’s dangers.
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.
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“They’ve got to play what I call the long game, which is common in mass torts,” [attorney Clay Massey] said. “You have to just continue to pick good cases to try, pick the right cases to settle, and then try one case at a time and continue to make the plaintiffs work for outcomes in these cases.”
“It appears that is what Bayer is doing, and if that is what they’re doing, I think it’s the right strategy,” he said.
