The agricultural firms a man alleges caused him to get cancer by spraying chemicals on his family’s farm near Carman while leasing land for research have denied his accusations of wrongdoing in response to his lawsuit.
Kevin Wayne Giesbrecht and Jennifer Diane McAlpine, common-law spouses who now live in Calgary, filed the suit in the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench in June. The defendants include Bayer AG and its subsidiaries, Bayer Inc. and Bayer CropScience, as well as Monsanto Canada Inc., which was purchased by Bayer in 2018 and amalgamated into Bayer CropScience in 2020.
The lawsuit also names Corteva Agriscience Canada as a defendant.
The lawsuit alleges the companies sprayed herbicides, believed to include glyphosate-based herbicides, including Roundup, and other possibly cancer-causing chemicals, on the land without properly warning the family about any potential risks. Giesbrecht lived on the farm as a youth from 2002 to 2012 and has regularly visited since.
Corteva and the Bayer defendants denied wrongdoing in separate statements of defence filed earlier this month, saying their conduct was not negligent, as alleged. Both court filings ask for the court to dismiss the lawsuit.
Glyphosate, the world’s most widely used herbicide, was introduced by Monsanto in 1974. The herbicide has been subject to significant legal and scientific debate over its potential effects on the environment and health, though it is approved for use by Canadian, American and European Union regulators.
Bayer has maintained that glyphosate, acquired when it purchased Monsanto, is safe, though it inherited Monsanto’s slew of lawsuits in the U.S. over allegations the herbicide causes cancer, specifically non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
In 2020, Bayer agreed to pay US$9.6 billion to settle tens of thousands of U.S. civil court claims but has denied publicly and in its statement of defence in response to the Giesbrecht lawsuit that glyphosate can cause cancer when properly used.
Giesbrecht was diagnosed with Stage 4 follicular non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in December, the court filings state.
Corteva’s Hyland Seeds signed a five-year lease with his parents to conduct crop research and development on a parcel of land in 2008. The company denies having any knowledge of Giesbrecht’s exposure to chemicals and denied any link between the herbicide and cancer.
“This defendant denies having acted in any manner that increased the risk Giesbrecht’s body would be altered… and that he would develop cancer,” Corteva’s filing stated.
Monsanto, since folded into Bayer, began leasing a parcel of land to conduct research and trials in 2015, with a second lease inked in 2020, its defence states.
A chemical-testing facility affiliated with the defendants is also nearby.
The Bayer defendants pointed to the regulatory framework in Canada around the chemical in its defence and said its use of all pesticides on the land were in accordance with regular agricultural practices and complied with the law.
The Bayer defence also said it complied with all its legal requirements, including posting signs on the land and giving advanced notice of spraying when it “became apparent that Mr. Giesbrecht was re-entering the acreage for recreational use.”
Further, the Bayer defence argues, any injuries or damages Giesbrecht suffered should be attributed to causes unrelated to the firms, including his and his family’s medical history, failing to seek timely medical help and other “causes unknown to the Bayer defendants for which they are neither liable nor responsible.”
erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca
Erik Pindera
Reporter
Erik Pindera is a reporter for the Free Press, mostly focusing on crime and justice. The born-and-bred Winnipegger attended Red River College Polytechnic, wrote for the community newspaper in Kenora, Ont. and reported on television and radio in Winnipeg before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Erik.
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