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Washington Supreme Court reinstates $185 million verdict

against

Monsanto

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Lower court had vacated the verdict from the 2021 trial

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Monsanto has faced hundreds of claims related to chemical

contamination at a Seattle-area school

(Adds comment from Monsanto and attorneys for the plaintiffs in

paragraphs 5-6, details throughout)

By Diana Novak Jones

Oct 30 (Reuters) -

A U.S. court reinstated a $185 million verdict against

Bayer's Monsanto unit over chemical contamination at

a Washington state school on Thursday.

The Washington state Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling

that had vacated the verdict in a 2021 trial over claims brought

by three teachers at Sky Valley Education Center in Monroe,

Washington.

Monsanto has faced a string of trials over claims by teachers

and others at the Seattle-area school who say they were sickened

by exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. More than 200

students, employees and parents say they developed cancer and

other health problems from PCBs leaking from the school's light

fixtures. The chemicals were made by Monsanto, which Bayer

acquired in 2018.

Verdicts in previous trials have totaled more than $1.5

billion, though some have been reduced or overturned. In August,

the company announced it had settled all of the claims except

for the nine cases already on appeal, including the teachers'

lawsuit at issue in Thursday's ruling.

Rick Friedman and Deepak Gupta, attorneys for the

plaintiffs, said in a statement the ruling "sends a clear

message: companies that conceal the risks of toxic chemicals

must be held accountable."

A Monsanto spokesperson said in a statement the court's

ruling was incorrect and the company was considering its legal

options.

The ruling may affect the remaining cases on appeal, which

had been on pause while the Washington Supreme Court weighed the

teachers' case.

Since Bayer's $63 billion acquisition of Monsanto in 2018,

the company has been dogged by lawsuits over PCB contamination

and tens of thousands of claims alleging Monsanto's

weedkiller Roundup

causes cancer, which the company denies.

PCBs were once widely used to insulate electrical

equipment, and in such products as carbonless copy paper,

caulking, floor finish and paint. They were outlawed by the U.S.

government in 1979 after being linked to cancer and other health

problems. Monsanto produced PCBs from 1935 to 1977.

The plaintiffs claim Monsanto knew of the dangers of PCBs

for decades, but concealed them from the public and regulators.

Bayer has argued that plaintiffs have failed to prove their

injuries were caused by PCBs, and that the levels found in the

school were deemed safe by the Environmental Protection Agency.

It has also said the school ignored government officials'

warnings that the light fixtures in the aging building needed to

be retrofitted.

Last year, a Washington state appeals court

sided with Bayer

and overturned the verdict, agreeing that the trial court

wrongly applied the laws of Missouri, where Monsanto was based.

Bayer had argued the use of Missouri law allowed the claims

to be filed decades after the company stopped producing PCBs,

even though Washington state law would have barred them as

untimely.

The teachers appealed, and in Thursday's ruling, the

Washington Supreme Court said Missouri state law should apply in

the case because that is where the company made most of its

decisions on the chemicals.