osoab
1st July 2011, 07:59 PM
Bayer agrees to pay Missuri rice farmers, others $750 million to settle suit (http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_b102d218-a42b-11e0-97bc-0019bb30f31a.html#ixzz1QufLV3Ls)
Bayer CropScience agreed to pay up to $750 million to farmers in Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi Friday to settle lawsuits over an accidental release of genetically modified rice LibertyLink contaminated the rice supply in 2006.
The settlement had not yet been filed in federal court in St. Louis Friday, but plaintiff's lawyers announced the deal.
A Bayer statement read, in part, "Although Bayer CropScience believes it acted responsibly in the handling of its biotech rice, the company considers it important to resolve the litigation so that it can move forward focused on its fundamental mission of providing innovative solutions to modern agriculture."
When it was discovered in the rice supply, LibertyLink had not yet been approved for sale for human consumption. Rice futures plunged and Japan and European countries banned the import of U.S. rice.
The first lawsuits were filed days later.
The rice price recovered and LibertyLink has since been approved. It has not been commercially marketed.
Friday's settlement comes after a series of so-called "bellwether" trials set up to allow representative cases to proceed to trial and to give all sides a hint of what could come in pending cases.
In December 2009, a federal jury in St. Louis awarded $2 million to farmers. A different jury awarded $1.5 in February 2010. Neither jury awarded punitive damages.
Last July, a federal jury in St. Louis awarded a Louisiana farmer, Denny Deshotels, $500,000 in one suit. Jurors were not given the option of punitive damages because of Louisiana law.
In two state trials in Arkansas, jurors also found in favor of farmers, awarding $1 million in the first trial and $6 million in actual damages and $42 million in punitive damages in the second.
Company lawyers argued that farmers who waited out the brief price hit suffered no losses and that Bayer was not negligent.
Bayer CropScience agreed to pay up to $750 million to farmers in Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi Friday to settle lawsuits over an accidental release of genetically modified rice LibertyLink contaminated the rice supply in 2006.
The settlement had not yet been filed in federal court in St. Louis Friday, but plaintiff's lawyers announced the deal.
A Bayer statement read, in part, "Although Bayer CropScience believes it acted responsibly in the handling of its biotech rice, the company considers it important to resolve the litigation so that it can move forward focused on its fundamental mission of providing innovative solutions to modern agriculture."
When it was discovered in the rice supply, LibertyLink had not yet been approved for sale for human consumption. Rice futures plunged and Japan and European countries banned the import of U.S. rice.
The first lawsuits were filed days later.
The rice price recovered and LibertyLink has since been approved. It has not been commercially marketed.
Friday's settlement comes after a series of so-called "bellwether" trials set up to allow representative cases to proceed to trial and to give all sides a hint of what could come in pending cases.
In December 2009, a federal jury in St. Louis awarded $2 million to farmers. A different jury awarded $1.5 in February 2010. Neither jury awarded punitive damages.
Last July, a federal jury in St. Louis awarded a Louisiana farmer, Denny Deshotels, $500,000 in one suit. Jurors were not given the option of punitive damages because of Louisiana law.
In two state trials in Arkansas, jurors also found in favor of farmers, awarding $1 million in the first trial and $6 million in actual damages and $42 million in punitive damages in the second.
Company lawyers argued that farmers who waited out the brief price hit suffered no losses and that Bayer was not negligent.