Dying worker sues Monsanto
LAWYERS for a school groundskeeper dying of cancer asked a San Francisco jury yesterday to find that agribusiness giant Monsanto’s widely used weed killer Roundup likely caused his disease.
Dewayne Johnson’s lawsuit is the first case to go to trial among hundreds of lawsuits saying Roundup caused non- Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Mr Johnson sprayed Roundup and a similar product, Ranger Pro, at his job as a pest control manager at a San Francisco Bay Area school district, according to his attorneys.
Brent Wisner told jurors that when the wind was gusty, it would cover his face and once when a hose broke once, it soaked his entire body.
Mr Johnson read the label carefully and even contacted the company after developing a rash, but was never warned it could cause cancer, Mr Wisner said. He was diagnosed with non- Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2014 at 42. “The simple fact is he is going to die. It’s just a matter of time,” Mr Wisner said.
But George Lombardi, an attorney for Monsanto, said non- Hodgkin’s lymphoma takes years to develop, so Johnson’s cancer started well before he began working at the school district.
Many government regulators have rejected a link between the active ingredient in Roundup – glyphosate – and cancer. Monsanto has vehemently denied such a connection, saying studies have established it is safe.
The trial is expected to last about a month. Mr Johnson is seeking damages.