Cancer patient who was awarded $289 million in Monsanto trial says he'll take $78 million instead

The payment is $211 million less than he expected, but Dewayne Johnson said he'll take it. After months of legal drama, the terminally ill cancer patient has agreed to a reduced award of about $78 million from the agrochemical giant Monsanto, a sharp decrease from a jury's $289 million verdict. Still, Monsanto's parent company says it will appeal.
Johnson, a former school groundskeeper, won a monumental case against Monsanto, claiming the company's famous weed killer Roundup gave him terminal cancer.  In August, a San Francisco jury awarded Johnson $250 million in punitive damages -- to punish Monsanto -- and about $39 million in compensatory damages -- for Johnson's lost income, pain and suffering.
Not surprisingly, Monsanto fought back. The company asked San Francisco Superior Court Judge Suzanne Bolanos to overrule the jury's entire award for punitive damages.
It almost worked. Last month, the judge tentatively granted Monsanto's request. Then, she denied it -- but reduced the punitive damages award to about $39 million.
Johnson's doctor said he had lesions over 80% of his body. Monsanto said there's no evidence Roundup causes cancer.

The judge then left the ball in Johnson's court. If he accepted the reduced award, Bolanos would not order a new trial. If he rejected it, a new trial over punitive damages would be ordered.
Johnson's attorneys told the court Friday he "will accept the reduction of punitive damages to the amount of $39,253,209.35" in order "to avoid the further burden of a new trial or appeal."
But if Monsanto appeals the judge's reduced punitive damages award, Johnson will continue to fight, his lawyers wrote.