Sharlean Gordon v. Monsanto Company

St. Louis, Missouri personal injury lawyer represented the Plaintiff on a product liability claim.

In July 2017, Plaintiff sued Monsanto alleging her prolonged exposure to Roundup and its ingredient glyphosate caused her to develop non-Hodgkin's lymphoma ("NHL").[1] After years of pre-trial litigation and discovery, including the appointment of a special master by the trial court due to the complexity of the litigation, Plaintiff's case proceeded to a jury trial beginning in April 2023. Over the course of a twenty-three-day trial, both Plaintiff and Monsanto put forth extensive evidence, primarily consisting of expert testimony from numerous witnesses and the admission of dozens of exhibits. Plaintiff presented expert testimony focused largely on the purported causal connection between glyphosate and NHL, including details of Plaintiff's medical history and the nature and duration of her exposure to glyphosate.



Monsanto's evidence at trial consisted primarily of testimony from a multitude of expert witnesses in various areas of study, all claiming glyphosate is not carcinogenic. At the close of trial, the jury returned verdicts in favor of Monsanto on all three counts alleged by Plaintiff, and the trial court entered its judgment in accordance with the verdicts.



Plaintiff subsequently filed a motion for a new trial which alleged the trial court erred by, inter alia, failing to admit into evidence a portion of a scientific publication offered by Plaintiff at trial, restricting the direct examination testimony of one of Plaintiff's expert witnesses, and admitting into evidence multiple foreign regulatory documents offered by Monsanto at trial. The trial court denied Plaintiff's motion for a new trial.



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Legal issue Is the jury verdict in favor of Monsanto regarding whether glyphosate is a carcinogen supported by proper evidence admission and trial court discretion?



Key Phrases Strict liability product defect. Strict liability failure to warn. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Glyphosate toxicology. Public documents hearsay exception.

Affirmed