Judge cuts Bayer $2.25 billion Roundup verdict to $400 million

A jury in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas found that John McKivison's non-Hodgkins lymphoma was the result of using Roundup for yard work at his house for several years, and it ordered Bayer to pay $250 million in compensatory damages and $2 billion in punitive damages.

Judge Susan Schulman granted some of Bayer's post-trial motions challenging that verdict, reducing compensatory damages to $50 million and punitive damages to $350 million.

Bayer said it would continue to appeal to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, challenging the trial court's decision to allow the jury to hear what it called misleading and "inflammatory" testimony.

"While the court's decision reduces the unconstitutionally excessive damage award, we still disagree with the ruling on the liability verdict, as the trial was marred by significant and reversible errors," a Bayer spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Bayer also called for U.S. legislative reform to protect companies whose products comply with federal labeling requirements.

McKivison's attorneys, Tom Kline and Jason Itkin, said they were pleased that Schulman upheld the jury's finding that Roundup causes cancer. But they also intend to appeal, seeking a reinstatement of the $2.25 billion jury verdict.

"The reduction of the amount of the jury's verdict is a clear departure from established Pennsylvania law that we plan to address in an appeal," Kline and Itkin said in a joint statement.

Bayer has said that decades of studies have shown Roundup and its active ingredient, glyphosate, are safe for human use.

Roundup is among the most widely used weedkillers in the United States, though the company phased out its sales for home use last year.

Bayer has prevailed in 14 of the last 20 Roundup trials, but it also racked up a string of losses in late 2023 and early 2024, resulting in more than $4 billion in verdicts.