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David Domina and Domina Law Group will litigate the next wave of Roundup cancer trials, which will return to Nebraska following a Federal Judge’s latest decision.
U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria’s approval of Bayer AG’s request to move the cases comes after a string of high-profile losses over Monsanto’s signature pesticide Roundup and its alleged links to cancer.
Bayer AG, which acquired Monsanto last year, has already suffered three major losses at the hands of California juries, including an $80M award to a California man who claimed long-term use of the glyphosate-based weed killer caused his Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a $289M jury award to a school groundskeeper also diagnosed with NHL after using Roundup and another Monsanto pesticide (Ranger Pro) for years on the job, and $2 billion in damages awarded to a husband and wife.
Roundup Litigation Returns to Nebraska
With over 13,000 lawsuits pending over Roundup’s alleged link to Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and blood borne cancer, the move is a strategic one. The first cases tried in California were part of multi-district litigation (MDL), which consolidates complex cases in one court for purposes of efficiency.
Following the major losses in California, Monsanto / Bayer and Plaintiff’s set their sights on litigating in other states:
- For the next round of trials, Monsanto / Bayer selected Nebraska, and plaintiffs selected California. There are currently five pending Roundup cancer lawsuits in Nebraska, four of which are being handled by Domina Law. Seventeen cases will be tried California.
- Monsanto / Bayer selected North Carolina as the venue for the second round of trials, while plaintiffs selected Illinois.
Bayer’s argument was that California’s plaintiffs-friendly laws placed it at a disadvantage, and resulted in “highly prejudicial coverage” by the media. Following the judge’s approval to move some cases, Bayer released a statement saying the change of venue will increase diversity in the national litigation, and benefit all involved parties.
David Domina Weighs In
David Domina, who with the Domina Law Group legal team is representing four Nebraska plaintiffs, recently weighed in on the latest development in the litigation with the Lincoln Journal Star.
As he suspects, Bayer likely picked Nebraska because the state does not allow for punitive damages – a special type of damages awarded in cases where defendants’ conduct is deemed egregious and worthy of further punishment. In the California trials, juries hit Bayer with monstrous punitive damage awards.
Despite that suspected motive, Domina is “thrilled” the cases will return to where they were originally filed, though he expects three or potentially all four suits to be tried in federal court in Omaha rather than U.S. District Court in Lincoln. With pre-trial proceedings and other filings taking several months, trials would likely not begin until December.
Read the full article featuring David Domina here.
Fighting for Midwestern Farmers
David Domina and Domina Law Group filed what were among the first half dozen lawsuits in the nation claiming a connection between glyphosate (the active chemical in Roundup that’s been declared a probable human carcinogen by the World Health Organization) and Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
Domina and our team now represent four plaintiffs in the Roundup litigation: a York County farmer, Dodge County agronomist, former state senator and chairman of the Nebraska Corn Board Robert Dickey, and Larry Domina, a Cedar County farmer and David Domina’s brother. All four contend exposure to Roundup caused them to develop NHL, a blood borne cancer.
Learn more about Roundup cancer lawsuits, the latest developments in Monsanto Roundup litigation, or contact us to speak with a lawyer.