Donnetta Stephens filed a complaint against Monsanto because she is suffering from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma after having used Roundup herbicide for more than 30 years. Her case has been joined to hundreds of cases brought before the courts of the State of California in Judicial Council Coordination Proceedings (JCCP NO. 4953). On Oct. 14, 2020, plaintiff’s counsels file a motion for trial preference, due to her ailing health, as had been previously granted for another JCCP NO. 4953 case (Pilliods v. Monsanto). The motion is granted in December 2020. It will be the 4th case linking use of Roundup with NHL. On July 19, 2021, Judge Gilbert Ochoa ruled – in agreement with Monsanto – that federal law regarding EPA oversight of pesticide product labeling preempts “failure to warn” claims under state law, meaning Stephens’ lawyers would not be able to pursue such claims. Still, the claims that Monsanto made an unsafe product and knowingly pushed it into the marketplace remain intact and will be presented at trial, set to begin in Aug. 2021. But the judge changed his position after the Court of Appeal for California denied Monsanto’s preemption argument in the Pilliods' case on Aug. 9, 2021. Monsanto recognized the appellate court decision was “binding” on the San Bernardino court, but said the appeals court “committed legal error.” On Dec. 9, 2021, the jury rejected Ms Stephens'’s claim that Roundup caused her cancer, finding that the company wasn't negligent in designing its weed killer, nor did it know that the product was dangerous or likely to be dangerous.