French Farmer Wins €11,000 in Bayer Herbicide Lawsuit
A French farmer who said he suffered neurological problems including memory loss, fainting and headaches after inhaling fumes from Bayer’s Lasso-branded herbicide in an agricultural accident, has won compensation of €11,135, ending more than 15 years of litigation.
Lasso, another product Bayer inherited in its 2018 takeover of Monsanto, has since been withdrawn from the market. In 2019, the German group lost its last appeal in the long-running dispute, paving the way for the settlement.
Both the award and the coverage of the litigation pale in comparison with the much higher-profile cases in which US Roundup users have charged that the former Monsanto’s glyphosate-based herbicide caused their cancer. Those awards, which Bayer is still contesting, have run into the tens of millions of dollars.
Paul Francois, who was supported by French anti-pesticide campaigners, said he was disappointed with the the size of the payout, as his case points to a wider trend of illness caused by farm chemicals. "11,000 euros for so much sacrifice," the farmer told local and national media.
Bayer France and the farmer’s lawyer, Francois Lafforgue, told news agencies that the court’s experts had considered the accident as causing post-traumatic stress and that the award covered a temporary functional deficit and suffering endured by the plaintiff.
Bayer France said the sum awarded was less than 1% of what Francois had demanded, boosting media reports that he had asked for more than €1 million in compensation.
The agrochemicals multinational added that the court’s experts had not recognized any of the "serious pathologies" the farmer said he suffered from.
Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist
