Monsanto Lawsuit Results in $2 Billion Verdict

A California-based attorney, Michael Lin Baum, serves as senior managing partner of Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman, based in Los Angeles. Michael Lin Baum has obtained many large product liability settlements for his clients during his career as a lawyer. In May of 2019, he was part of the legal team that obtained a $2.055 billion verdict against Monsanto after a jury in Oakland, California, found that its Roundup weed killer caused a Bay Area couple to develop cancer.

While thousands of cancer patients have sued Monsanto for claims involving Roundup, only three have gone to trial. Michael Lin Baum worked on the trial teams in each of the three trials. The latest $2 billion verdict against the company, however, is by far the largest, and is now one of the largest personal injury verdicts in US history. In fact, it’s the country’s ninth-largest personal injury verdict to date.

The verdict was found in favor of Alva and Alberta Pilliod, who were both diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma that they claim was caused by Roundup weed killer. The Pilliods, now in their 70s, began using Roundup over four decades ago. Alva Pilliod and his wife were diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2011 and 2015, respectively.

The case is the third to conclude that Monsanto failed to warn consumers about the dangers of using Roundup. The other two lawsuits resulted in $289 million and $80 million jury verdicts.