Johnson v. Monsanto Co.
Johnson v. Monsanto Co. was the first lawsuit to proceed to trial over Monsanto's Roundup herbicide products causing cancer. The lawsuit alleged that Roundup products caused Dewayne "Lee" Johnson's non-Hodgkin lymphoma and that Monsanto failed to warn consumers that Roundup products were potentially carcinogenic.[1][2] In a landmark verdict, Monsanto's purchaser Bayer Corporation was ordered by a San Francisco jury to pay $289m in punitive damages and compensatory damages.[3][4][5][6][7][8] Monsanto, and after June 2018 Bayer, appealed the verdict several times.[9] The award was cut to $78 million,[10] then reduced to $21 million after appeal.[11][12]
Background
[edit]Dewayne "Lee" Johnson, the plaintiff in this case, sprayed hundreds of gallons of Roundup over the course of his career as a school groundskeeper in Benicia, California.[13] On one occasion, one of the sprayers he was using broke and he was drenched in Roundup.[7] In 2014 at age 42, Johnson was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which he alleged at trial was caused by the herbicide exposure.[13][14] In 2017, he was given a terminal diagnosis and was told that he would only live another 6 months.[13] Due to this diagnosis, his trial was expedited.[13]
Court findings
[edit]The central factual disputes in Johnson v. Monsanto Co. concerned whether Monsanto's glyphosate-based Roundup herbicides were capable of causing non-Hodgkin lymphoma, whether Johnson's exposure to the products was a substantial factor in causing his cancer, whether Monsanto knew or should have known of the alleged cancer risk, and whether the company failed to provide adequate warnings despite that knowledge.[1] Following testimony from competing scientific experts and the introduction of internal Monsanto documents, the jury found in Johnson's favor on all major factual issues.[1] It concluded that Roundup products were a substantial factor in causing Johnson's non-Hodgkin lymphoma, that the products' carcinogenic risks were known or knowable in light of prevailing scientific knowledge, and that Monsanto failed to provide adequate warnings.[1] On appeal, the California Court of Appeal held that substantial evidence supported these factual findings and upheld the liability verdict, although it reduced the compensatory and punitive awards on legal grounds unrelated to the jury's factual determinations.[1][11]
In June 2026, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Monsanto Co. v. Durnell that states cannot overrule federal labeling requirements about the possible carcinogenicity of Roundup. This ruling has called into question state-specific cancer warnings like the one in California that prohibits "failure-to-warn".[15]
In popular culture
[edit]The lawsuit is the subject of an upcoming Netflix legal drama directed by John Lee Hancock.[16][17] It was also the subject of Into the Weeds, a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation documentary directed by Jennifer Baichwal. Into the Weeds was screened for a single day across the U.S. on October 3, 2023.[18]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 "Johnson v. Monsanto Co". Justia Law. Retrieved October 28, 2025.
- ↑ Johnson v. Monsanto Co., 52 Cal.App.5th 434 (Court of Appeal of the State of California, First Appellate District July 20, 2020) ("Johnson sought recovery based on the theories that Roundup products had a design defect and that Monsanto provided inadequate warnings (seeking recovery both in strict liability and for negligently failing to warn). The main issues litigated at trial were whether Roundup products caused Johnson's illness and, if so, the degree to which Monsanto was aware of its products' carcinogenicity.").
- ↑ "Monsanto ordered to pay $289m as jury rules weedkiller caused man's cancer". the Guardian. August 11, 2018.
- ↑ "The man who beat Monsanto: 'They have to pay for not being honest'". the Guardian. September 26, 2018.
- ↑ Egelko, Bob (July 21, 2020). "Award to Vallejo groundskeeper in Monsanto cancer case slashed again — verdict upheld". San Francisco Chronicle.
- ↑ Sullivan, Emily (November 1, 2018). "Groundskeeper Accepts Reduced $78 Million Award In Monsanto Cancer Suit". NPR.
- 1 2 "I Won a Historic Lawsuit, But May Not Live to Get the Money". Time. November 21, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
- ↑ "The man who beat Monsanto: 'They have to pay for not being honest'". TheGuardian.com. September 26, 2018.
- ↑ "Bayer loses third appeals case over glyphosate weedkiller". Reuters. August 10, 2021.
- ↑ Sullivan, Emily. "Groundskeeper Accepts Reduced $78 Million Award In Monsanto Cancer Suit". NPR. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- 1 2 Egelko, Bob (July 21, 2020). "Award to Vallejo groundskeeper in Monsanto cancer case slashed again - verdict upheld". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
- ↑ Johnson v. Monsanto Co., 52 Cal.App.5th 434 (Court of Appeal of the State of California, First Appellate District July 20, 2020) ("The jury's future noneconomic compensatory damages award is reduced to $4 million, which results in a total reduced award of $10,253,209.32 in compensatory damages. The judgment is further modified to reduce the award of punitive damages to $10,253,209.32.").
- 1 2 3 4 Dilbeck, Morgan (2020). "Monsanto: Creator of Cancer Liability?". DePaul Business & Commercial Law Journal. 18: 105–125 – via Hein Online.
- ↑ "Johnson v. Monsanto Co., Case No. 16-cv-01244-MMC | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com. Archived from the original on July 27, 2023. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
- ↑ McCrory, Chris (June 25, 2026). "Supreme Court sides with Monsanto in cancer-labeling case, involving Roundup weedkiller". WKYC. Retrieved July 3, 2026.
- ↑ Gonzalez, Umberto (May 23, 2024). "Netflix Nabs 'Monsanto' Starring Glen Powell, Anthony Mackie and Laura Dern for $30 Million Out of Cannes". TheWrap. Retrieved July 4, 2026.
- ↑ Grobar, Matt (June 16, 2026). "John Lee Hancock Monsanto Movie Casts Six (EXCLUSIVE)". Deadline. Retrieved July 4, 2026.
- ↑ Into The Weeds: The Dewayne “Lee” Johnson Story, Pesticide Action Network, September 15, 2023. Retrieved October 10, 2023.