Bayer AG (BAYRY)

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The French investigation is the latest in a string of legal woes inherited by Bayer, who have seen their share value plummet by almost 40 percent since taking over Monsanto. Last August, a US court ordered Monsanto to pay $289 million in compensation to a California groundskeeper, after they ruled that years of him using Monsanto’s glyphosate-based weedkiller Roundup contributed to his cancer. The ruling has opened up Bayer to thousands of other legal cases and 11,000 other Roundup-linked suits are currently making their way through the US courts.

In April, a French court ruled that Monsanto was liable for causing the neurological damages of a farmer, who accidentally inhaled fumes from its Lasso weedkiller in 2004. Arguing that the company gave insufficient warnings on its label, Paul Francois is seeking €1 million ($1.1 million) in damages.