Bayer to launch varied legal defence of acquired Monsanto herbicides

摘要

Bayer came out fighting yesterday expressing confidence that it would prevail in various lawsuits against its newly acquired herbicide technologies following the takeover of Monsanto. Company chiefs took questions from investment bankers over concerns on various cases regarding dicamba and glyphosate herbicides. Bayer group chief executive officer Werner Baumann led with assurances that the company would defend glyphosate's safety following the award of damages by a jury at the US Superior Court of California state in San Francisco. It found Monsanto liable in a lawsuit filed by a school groundskeeper, Dewayne Johnson, who alleged that the company's glyphosate-based herbicides, including Roundup, had caused him cancer. The jury awarded $39 million in compensatory and $250 million in punitive damages. The case also dominated among posed questions.