Michelle Ramirez and Erik Hansell
IADC members Michelle Ramirez, a partner at Sidley Austin LLP, and Erik Hansell, a partner at Husch Blackwell LLP, helped secure a complete defense verdict on behalf of Monsanto in a high-profile, three-plaintiff Roundup trial in Missouri state court. The legal team included lead counsel Paul Boehm, Michelle Ramirez, and Morgan Branch, along with co-counsel Erik Hansell and Justin Benson.
After nearly 6 weeks of trial, on October 29, 2026, a St. Louis County jury reached its unanimous verdict in Monsanto’s favor after less than two hours of deliberation. Prior to the verdict, the Court awarded Monsanto directed verdict on the issue of punitive damages. Plaintiffs’ counsel asked jurors to award up to $90 million across the three plaintiffs for compensatory damages. The three plaintiffs – all Florida residents – alleged that years of Roundup use caused their non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Their claims involved different Roundup products and varying levels of alleged exposure,.
This was the first Roundup trial since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Monsanto Co. v. Durnell (June 2026) that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) preempts plaintiffs’ failure-to-warn claims. Plaintiffs brought a suite of other claims, however, including design defect, strict liability, fraud, and negligence – claiming, among other things, that Monsanto failed to conduct appropriate testing and to report scientific data. Plaintiffs’ counsel heavily emphasized the International Agency for Research on Cancer’s (IARC) 2015 designation of glyphosate – contrary to the scientific determinations of the EPA and other regulatory bodies – as a “probable human carcinogen.”
The trial team mounted a robust defense grounded in decades of scientific research and consistent regulatory findings about Roundup’s safety. The jury’s unanimous and speedy rejection of Plaintiffs’ allegations is a significant victory for Monsanto in one of the nation’s most closely watched mass tort litigations. It provides an important early indication of the challenges plaintiffs may face in pursuing Roundup claims following the Supreme Court’s Durnell decision.
Case: Aretino et al. v. Bayer et al., Case No. 20SL-CC03676, Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Missouri.