Stevick v. Monsanto

Reference :

3:16-cv-02341

Complaint date :

April 29, 2016

Status :

Not judged

Place of jurisdiction :

United States, San Francisco, Northern District of California

Plaintiffs types :

Individuals

Plaintiffs names :

Elaine Stevick, Christopher Stevick

Defendants :

Monsanto

Lawyers for Health and Environmental Justice :

Curtis G. Hoke

Case nature :

Civil court

Specificities :

Jury

Type(s), Product(s), Active substance(s) :

Herbicide, Glyphosate, Roundup

Requests :

Compensatory damages in an amount to be proven at trial; punitive damages; costs including reasonable attorneys’ fees, court costs, and other litigation expenses; any other relief the Court may deem just and proper.

Name of the Court :

District Court of San Francisco, Northern District of California, United States

Jurisdiction level :

Summary :

Elaine Stevick used Roundup extensively in her garden in Petaluma, California until 2014. She was diagnosed in December 2014 with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which she attributes to her use of the herbicide. The trial is set to begin on February 24, 2020. But in October 2019, her husband Chris Stevick, who often mixed Roundup for his wife and tested the sprayer used to dispense the weed killer, was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Elaine Stevick’s lawyers asked Monsanto if it would agree that Chris' cancer claims could be joined with his wife’s for the February trial in San Francisco. Monsanto’s attorneys oppose the joining of the claims and say that Elaine Stevick’s trial should only proceed in February if there is no mention made of her husband’s cancer. Alternatively, Monsanto requests that the February trial be delayed and the company be given time to do discovery into Chris Stevick’s diagnosis. The issue is to be discussed in a case management conference. Trial is being postponed.

Scientific references :

IARC Working Group on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans. Some Organophosphate Insecticides and Herbicides. Lyon (FR): International Agency for Research on Cancer; 2017. PMID: 31829533.