A French Court has upheld a guilty verdict against chemical giant Monsanto over the poisoning of a farmer who suffered neurological damage after using one of its weedkillers.
This is the latest legal setback for the company over its controversial pesticides.
Cereal farmer Paul Francois has been fighting Monsanto, a former US company which was bought by Germany’s Bayer last year, for the past 12 years.
In the first ruling of its kind against Monsanto anywhere in the world, a French court in 2012 found it guilty of poisoning Francois.
He said he began experiencing symptoms including blackouts, headaches and loss of balance and memory after inhaling fumes while using the now-banned weedkiller Lasso.
Monsanto appealed and lost in 2015. However, it decided to go a third round.
“I won, and I’m happy, but at what cost?” Francois told reporters after the verdict.
He denounced what he called years of “legal harassment” by Monsanto.
Source: The Journal
