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Bayer needs to pay $100 million in most current trial over PCBs in Washington school, jury discovers

A Washington state jury on Tuesday purchased Bayer to pay $100 million to four people who state they were sickened by toxic chemicals known as PCBs at a. Seattlearea school, but discovered the company was not accountable for. injuries declared by 11 others.

The decision, which follows a two-month trial, is the current. in a string of trials versus the chemical business over the. declared contamination at the Sky Valley Education Center in. Monroe, Washington.

More than 200 trainees, employees and moms and dads have actually said. they established cancer, thyroid conditions, neurological injuries. and other health issue from polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs. leaking from the school's lighting fixtures. The chemicals were. made by Monsanto, which Bayer got in 2018.

Monsanto stated in a declaration it will pursue post-trial. motions, and an appeal if necessary, to overturn the decision or. lower the extreme damages granted to the 4 plaintiffs.

Proof at trial revealed low to non-existent level of PCBs,. which could not have actually caused the injuries alleged, Monsanto said.

Decisions in previous trials over the supposed contamination. at the school, which have involved different groups of. complainants, have totaled more than $1.5 billion, though some. have actually been decreased or reversed. The staying judgments are. likewise the subject of appeals, Monsanto stated.

The company got a decision for $185 million in favor of three. teachers and an instructor's spouse reversed on appeal in 2015. on several grounds.

The state appeals court agreed with Bayer that the trial. court incorrectly used the laws of Missouri, where Monsanto was. based, enabling the claims to be submitted decades after the business. stopped producing PCBs in 1977. The business said Washington law. should apply instead, and it would obstruct the plaintiffs' claims. as filed too late.

Washington's greatest court is anticipated to hear an appeal of. that judgment.

In August, an $857 million verdict was slashed to $438. million, after a judge discovered it consisted of excessive punitive. damages.

Bayer got Monsanto for $63 billion in 2018. Ever since,. lawsuits over PCBs, and more considerably over claims that the. weedkiller Roundup caused cancer, have weighed heavily on the. business's shares.

PCBs were when used extensively to insulate electrical equipment,. and were likewise used in such products as carbonless copy paper,. caulking, floor finish and paint. They were banned by the U.S. federal government in 1979 after being linked to cancer and other health. problems. Monsanto produced PCBs from 1935 to 1977.

Complainants have actually said Monsanto understood of the risks of PCBs. for decades, however hid them from the general public and from. federal government regulators.

Bayer has argued plaintiffs have actually stopped working to show their. injuries were caused by PCBs, which the levels found in the. school were considered safe by the Epa. It has also stated the school neglected cautions from federal government. authorities that the lights in the aging building needed. to be retrofitted.

(source: Reuters)