A formidable team of trial attorneys just achieved the largest award in a personal injury case in 2019 and the eighth largest in American history. And they obtained it for a couple both suffering with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after using the weed killer Roundup for decades.
Alva Pilliod has cancer in his spine and other bones. His wife, Alberta Pilliod, suffers from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma brain cancer. In a trial against Roundup manufacturer Monsanto earlier this month, a California jury awarded the couple $2.055 billion in damages. That verdict includes $2 billion in rarely awarded punitive damages, which are meant to punish Monsanto for particularly heinous behavior.
More than 13,400 people are suing Monsanto, alleging its Roundup product causes cancer. Three cases have gone to trial so far, and the juries in all three have sided with the plaintiffs.
- $289.2 million verdict in Dewayne Johnson v. Monsanto Co. (punitive damages were later reduced, bringing the total award to $78.5 million)
- $80 million verdict in Edwin Hardeman v. Monsanto Co.
- $2.055 billion verdict in Pilliod v. Monsanto Co.
The verdict “is as clear of a statement as you can get that they need to change what they’re doing,” Brent Wisner, one of the attorneys for the Pilliods, told CNN.
Congratulations to Michael J. Miller of The Miller Firm and R. Brent Wisner of Baum Hedlund on this major win for the plaintiffs. Click here for more information on this recent case.
A West Point graduate where he served as captain and military aviator, John Bair continues his commitment to our country through his efforts within the settlement planning industry. He has represented families of victims lost in the Flight 3407 crash, offered pro bono services to the families of 9/11 victims and drafted the first consumer protection bill for plaintiffs (H.R. 3699).
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