California, where Monsanto Co., owned by Bayer, lost $2 billion and $80 million verdicts in cases alleging its herbicide Roundup caused non-Hodgkin lymphoma, landed at the second spot on the American Tort Reform Association’s annual “Judicial Hellholes” report after the state topped the list last yer. The ATRA report also cited lawsuits brought under Proposition 65, its reputation as a “magnet for class action lawsuits” and anti-arbitration measures. Among the most notable was the California Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Dynamex Operations West v. Superior Court, after which “the flood gates opened, inundating employers with wage and hour lawsuits by individuals who were viewed as independent contractors,” the report says. The California legislature codified the decision into law this year, particularly targeting gig economy companies like Uber and Lyft.
“It’s not like California’s that much improved,” said Sherman “Tiger” Joyce, ATRA’s president said.
