US EditionBayer's Monsanto Must Pay $185 Million After State Supreme Court Restores Chemical Leak Verdict
The court ruled 6-3 to apply Missouri law for punitive damages, reinstating $185 million awarded to teachers exposed to PCBs at a Washington school.
- On Thursday, the Washington Supreme Court reinstated a $185 million verdict against Monsanto for PCB poisoning of three teachers at the Sky Valley Education Center in Monroe, Wash., after Monsanto appealed last year.
- Former teachers Kerry Erickson, Michelle Leahy and Joyce Marquardt said PCB exposure at Sky Valley Education Center caused neurological and autoimmune issues, with Monroe School District slow to address their concerns.
- During a seven-week trial, the three former teachers described failing health to a King County jury that found Monsanto liable, awarding each between $15 million and $18 million in compensatory and $45 million in punitive damages.
- Chief Justice Debra Stephens wrote that Missouri law governs Monsanto's statute of repose defense and punitive damages, and the 6-3 decision reversed the appellate vacatur.
- The ruling, a first in state supreme courts upholding punitive awards in Sky Valley cases, drew Bayer Pharmaceuticals criticism, which said it set aside $618 million and is considering further review, while Washington state lawmakers allocated more than $1 million.
23 Articles
23 Articles
$185M verdict for toxic lights in WA school upheld by state’s high court
The Washington Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for a record-setting payout to three teachers who developed brain damage and other illnesses after being exposed to toxic PCBs at a Monroe school.
Bayer, a pharmaceutical company, has to pay millions of dollars in compensation for the use of toxic chemicals at a school in the United States.
The chemical and agricultural company has once again suffered a legal defeat in the United States. Washington State Supreme Court ruled that three teachers who had claimed damages due to the environmental poison PCB were right.
Bayer has to pay $185 million in compensation to staff and students of a US school. It's about the poison PCB that Monsanto produced. How does the company react?
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