Roundup® Weed Killer Class Action
Mitchell & Hutton v. Bayer Inc. et al
Nova Scotia Supreme Court File: Hfx No. 489864
Wagners filed a proposed class action lawsuit in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, on July 4, 2019.
The proposed class proceeding was filed on behalf of the Plaintiffs against Bayer Inc., Monsanto Company, Monsanto Canada ULC and Monsanto Canada Inc. The lawsuit seeks damages on behalf of the Plaintiffs and other individuals who were diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (“NHL”) after having used and/or been exposed to Roundup® between 1976 and the date of the judgment certifying this proceeding as a class action.
The lawsuit alleges that the defendants breached statutory and common law duties and that they failed to warn the Plaintiffs and other individuals of the serious risk of developing NHL as a result of the use of the Roundup® product.
To inform us of your interest and determine if you qualify for inclusion in Wagners’ prospective action, please fill out this registration form. If you have any concerns or questions please contact us by phone or email at [email protected].
Pour nous informer de votre intérêt et déterminer si vous remplissez les conditions pour être inclus dans l’action prospective de Wagners, veuillez remplir ce formulaire d’inscription. Si vous avez des préoccupations ou des questions, veuillez nous contacter par téléphone ou par e-mail à [email protected].
Updates & Latest Developments
The certification hearing for the DeBlock action occurred on March 28-30, 2023 in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice before the Honourable Justice A. Duncan Grace. Justice Grace subsequently reserved his decision.
The Ontario Court, which is overseeing the national class action, DeBlock v. Monsanto ULC, advised the parties that the certification hearing dates of April 5-7, 2022, had to be rescheduled. The certification hearing has since been rescheduled to March 28-30, 2023. All filing deadlines have been met so if court availability opens before March of 2023, the parties are prepared to proceed.
On March 9, 2021, the representative plaintiff in the collaborative Ontario class action amended the statement of claim (the document that starts an action). The amendment in the Amended Fresh as Amended Statement of Claim dated February 11, 2021 changed the definition of “Significant Exposure” in the proposed class definition to mean “application of Roundup on more than two occasions in a 12-month period and more than 10 occasions in a lifetime.” This changed from the previous definition of “Significant Exposure” in three ways:
- Individuals now need to have applied the Roundup; exposure alone is not adequate;
- Individuals now need to have applied the Roundup on more than two times in a 12-month period and more than ten applications over their lifetime; and
- The total volume of the applications is not considered.
On March 23, 2021, the Ontario Superior Court rescheduled the certification hearing to April 5-7, 2022. The hearing had previously been scheduled for September 20, 2021.
If you have not yet completed an intake form, please do so and don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions.
Since meeting with the Honourable Justice Beaton on July 29, 2020, Wagners has agreed to collaborate to advance a national class action out of Ontario (DeBlock v. Monsanto Canada ULC et al.). This action was at a slightly more advanced stage than the action filed in Nova Scotia, as the dates for the certification hearing have been set for September of 2021.
On July 29, 2020, counsel for both parties attended a “motion for directions” before the Honourable Justice Beaton of the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal. The Plaintiffs’ position was that the Defendants did not have the ability to bring the Appeal, as under the appeal section of the Class Proceedings Act, there is only mention of an appeal from certification – not a discretionary case management decision. We argued that it was contrary to the objectives of class proceedings – the judicial economy and efficiency objectives – to have appeals of discretionary decisions heard in the course of case management. The Honourable Justice Beaton determined that in this case, it is best to have the Leave Application heard separately from the Appeal itself. She gave directions (dates/deadlines) for the filing of supporting documentation prior to the leave to appeal hearing. The leave to appeal hearing was also scheduled to be heard at the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal on December 3, 2020 at 10:00 am. If we are successful at arguing that leave should not be granted, we will proceed to certification.
The parties are preparing for a hearing of the motion for certification, in order to determine whether the class can proceed to a common issues trial.