A judge on Monday upheld pesticide manufacturer Monsanto’s liability in a lawsuit alleging that exposure to the company’s Roundup product played a
substantial role in causing a man’s cancer.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Suzanne Bolanos, however, lowered the punitive damages in the case to $39 million from $250 million and said plaintiff Dewayne Johnson, a groundskeeper for the school district in Benicia, must accept the lower amount or she’ll order a
new trial.

Bolanos upheld the compensatory damages of $39 million for a total award of $78 million.

Johnson is terminally ill from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.