Trial Guides congratulates lawyer and long time Trial Guides author, Rick Friedman of Friedman Rubin, for obtaining a $72,000,000 verdict against Monsanto.
For the past several years Rick has been trying a series of long trials against Monsanto for injuries caused by Monsanto's polychlorinated biphenyls "PCB" products to teachers and students at Sky Valley Education Center in Monroe Washington. This verdict follows his prior verdicts against Monsanto of $275 million, $185 million, $82 million and $62 million in PCB trials on behalf of those exposed at the Sky Valley school.
Polychlorinated biphenyls are known to cause significant and lifelong health problems. PCBs are referred to as "forever chemicals" due to how long it takes for them to break down in the environment and in the human body. Although PCBs were banned in 1979, they are still present in buildings constructed prior to that such as in the Sky Valley Educational Center. The litigation alleges that Monsanto is legally responsible for the severe health consequences of the teachers and students exposed to Monsanto's PCB products.
Teachers at the Sky Valley school said fluorescent lights caught fire and dripped noxious oil onto classroom floors, exposing students to PCBs, between 2011 and 2016, according to the litigation filed by Friedman Rubin.
“So many students and teachers had to leave Sky Valley because they were just getting too sick,” noted teacher Michelle Leahy. She said she watched students and colleagues lose simple memory and cognitive functions. She was diagnosed with early-stage uterine cancer and developed temporary eyesight problems within a year of working at Sky Valley.
Rick has noted, “the national tragedy is this stuff is still in an estimated 30% of schools.” Rick and his firm Friedman Rubin are presently representing just over 200 people injured at the Sky Valley Education Center, but there are potentially many more cases. As many as 14 million students nationwide might be exposed to PCBs in old electrical equipment or building materials on campuses.
Despite this being the fifth large verdict, Monsanto refuses to pay the verdicts to date, and Rick keeps trying cases.
Rick was joined in one of the prior Monsanto PCB trials, Allison, et al. v. Monsanto Company, by fellow Trial Guides authors Nick Rowley and Courtney Rowley.
Since the beginning of Trial Guides, Rick has generously helped generations of lawyers by freely sharing his kind and wise insights on improving our practice of law, and our lives outside of practicing law. He continues to lead by example in his ongoing diligent work on behalf of his clients against the most powerful of defendants such as Monsanto and its parent company Bayer.
Through Rick's example, the next generation of great trial lawyers to continue the tradition of educating other lawyers how to do the best quality job for their clients.
We congratulate Rick and his clients on their victory today.
Order your copy of Rick Friedman's Polarizing the Case, now available in ebook:
