- Bayer (OTCPK:BAYRY) says it may appeal a ruling by a U.S. jury that its Monsanto unit must pay $185M to three teachers who blamed the company's PCBs for brain injuries they blame on exposure to the chemical at a school in Washington state.
- Bayer, which bought Monsanto in 2018, says it disagreed with the verdict and plans to pursue post-trial motions and, if necessary, an appeal.
- The plaintiffs claimed they were exposed to PCB at the Sky Valley Education Center from fluorescent light ballasts, which Bayer said were produced decades ago by customers of Monsanto's products and installed in the late 1960s.
- "These light ballasts were decades beyond their useful life, energy inefficient, and obsolete," Bayer says.
- Litigation over PCBs and the Roundup weedkiller remain a lingering headache for Bayer from its purchase of Monsanto; in May, a California judge rejected its plan to settle future claims that allege Roundup causes cancer.