By Brendan Pierson and Dietrich Knauth
(Reuters) – A Washington jury on Tuesday ordered Bayer (OTC 🙂 to pay $100 million to four people who were sickened by toxic chemicals known as PCBs at a Seattle school, but found the company not responsible for the injuries. 11 others are accused.
The verdict, which follows a two-month trial, is the latest in a series of lawsuits against the chemical company for alleged contamination at the Sky Valley Education Center in Monroe, Washington.
More than 200 students, staff and parents have claimed to have developed cancer, thyroid conditions, neurological damage and other health problems from polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs leaking from school lighting. Chemicals are made by Monsanto (NYSE: ), which was acquired by Bayer in 2018.
Monsanto said in a statement that it will pursue proposals after the trial, and an appeal if necessary, to change the verdict or reduce the “excessive” damages awarded to the four plaintiffs.
Test evidence shows low to no PCBs, which did not cause the suspected injuries, Monsanto said.
Verdicts in previous trials regarding alleged contamination at the school, involving various groups of plaintiffs, have reached more than $1.5 billion, although some have been reduced or dismissed. The remaining sentences are also subject to appeal, Monsanto said.
The company received a $185 million judgment in favor of three teachers and the teacher's wife who appealed last year on several grounds.
A state appeals court agreed with Bayer that the trial court improperly applied laws in Missouri, where Monsanto was based, allowing claims to be filed decades after the company stopped producing PCBs in 1977. will bar the plaintiffs' claims as filed too late.
The Washington Supreme Court is expected to hear an appeal of that ruling.
In August, the $857 million verdict was reduced to $438 million, after a judge found it included excessive punitive damages.
Bayer acquired Monsanto for $63 billion in 2018. Since then, the lawsuits about PCBs, and especially about the claims that the weedkiller Roundup caused cancer, have weighed heavily on the company's shares.
PCBs were once widely used to cover electrical equipment, and were also used in products such as carbonless copy paper, caulking, floor finishes and paint. They were banned by the US government in 1979 after being linked to cancer and other health problems. Monsanto produced PCBs from 1935 to 1977.
Plaintiffs have alleged that Monsanto knew about the dangers of PCBs for decades, but hid them from the public and government regulators.
Bayer said the plaintiffs failed to prove that their injuries were caused by PCBs, and that the levels found at the school were considered safe by the Environmental Protection Agency. He also said the school ignored warnings from government officials that the lights in the old building needed to be repaired.