Last Monday, plaintiffs in a multi-district legislation case asked the court to create a “medical monitoring class” within the case against Bayer and Monsanto for allegations against the Roundup herbicide where no personal injury has yet been discovered. On Tuesday, they dismissed that motion and replaced it with a stipulation to consolidate two cases which would belong in the previously proposed class, Sheller v. Bayer AG and Ramirez v. Monsanto.
The movants in the dismissed motion, Aaron Sheller and Kabe Cane, claimed that the future category should be separated from those seeking awards for current personal injury. Sheller attempted to appoint his counsel, Fegan Scott LLC, to represent the subclass on three occasions.
The new case will include Aaron Sheller, Robert Ramirez, Jerry Agtarap, Dexter Owens, and John Elko. The plaintiffs are seeking funds from Monsanto and the court to provide medical monitoring to individuals who have been “exposed to Roundup through their commercial and agricultural endeavors but have not yet developed NHL,” or non-hodgkin’s lymphoma.
The stipulation stated that the parties agree the two cases, Sheller and Ramirez, “concern substantially the same parties, property, transaction or events in that each seeks to recover from Defendants on behalf of a class or subclass of persons exposed to Roundup.” The parties, including the plaintiffs in the two actions and Monsanto, agreed to consolidate the cases and close the file for the Sheller v. Bayer AG case.
The plaintiffs will be required to submit a Consolidated Amended Complaint within 30 days after the stipulation is signed by Judge Vince Chhabria.
Aaron Sheller and other plaintiffs involved in the stipulation are represented by Fegan Scott LLC; Riley Williams & Piatt, LLC; Shindler, Anderson, Goplerud & Weese, P.C.; Cate, Terry & Gookins LLC; and Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP; the Dungan Law Firm, APLC; and Audet & Partners, LLP.
Monsanto is represented by over 30 different firms throughout the sprawling MDL.
