A Massachusetts state court ruled that federal law preempts a plaintiff’s claims that Monsanto failed to warn about the dangers of Roundup, delivering a setback for the plaintiff. While the court allowed design defect claims to proceed, losing the failure-to-warn argument weakens the case significantly.
The decision aligns with the 3rd Circuit’s ruling in Schaffner v. Monsanto, raising concerns among legal experts. Critics fear this precedent could encourage more courts to adopt similar rulings, providing judges inclined to protect corporations like Monsanto with a stronger legal basis for dismissing failure-to-warn claims.
