FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Germany’s Bayer (OTC:BAYRY) said Friday that it will go to court to fight a jury’s decision to give $275 million to a group of people who say they got sick from being exposed to PCB, a chemical that Bayer’s Monsanto (NYSE:MON) business made until 1977.
Bloomberg and other news outlets reported on Thursday that the King County Superior Court in the U.S. state of Washington ruled in favour of 13 plaintiffs who say they got sick from being exposed to PCBs at the Sky Valley School in Monroe County.
Germany’s Bayer said in a statement, “We respectfully disagree with the jury’s split decision in this 13-plaintiff case. “We plan to file post-trial motions and appeals based on multiple mistakes and the lack of proof at trial.”
“The undisputed evidence in this case does not support the conclusions that plaintiffs were exposed to unsafe levels of PCBs at the Sky Valley Education Center or that these exposures caused their alleged health problems,” it said.
At 7:38 GMT, Bayer stock was down 0.9%, while Germany’s blue-chip index, the DAX, was up 0.7%.
Bayer has been involved in a lot more lawsuits about Monsanto’s weedkiller Roundup than about PCBs. However, the company has also been trying to settle lawsuits about PCBs. Before Monsanto stopped making it on its own in 1977, the chemical was used in commercial products.
Since 2020, Bayer has paid $650 million to settle most of the lawsuits it had with cities over PCB-contaminated waste water. However, a few other claims are still pending.
In August, it set aside 694 million euros for a possible settlement with the State of Oregon over PCB in waste water.
The group of chemicals was once used in electrical equipment, carbonless copy paper, caulking, floor finish, and paint. The U.S. government made it illegal in 1979 because it was linked to cancer.
