The first diagnosis was pretty bad, you know.
They were saying I could probably die within a couple of years.
Mine is one of the most aggressive
forms of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that they've pretty much ever seen.
A company like that has money. They can fight a long time.
Like I said, this fight might go past my life.
Lee Johnson sued Monsanto – and won.
The jury awarded him $289 million in August of 2018
after concluding his cancer was linked to exposure to Roundup,
Monsanto’s controversial toxic weed killer.
That's when I had the shower of Ranger Pro all over me.
It went down in my protective gear. It went down in my suit — everywhere.
Johnson was working as a groundskeeper at a few different schools for about four years,
and using a concentrated version of Roundup called "Ranger Pro."
While most past cases against the chemical giant haven’t gone anywhere,
Johnson's has, and could open the door for thousands of others who say they're sick because of Monsanto.
I was even told, "Lee, you don't want to try to go against that company."
And I had no choice, because I had no job. I was sick. So I had to do what I needed to do.
“It goes through the plant to kill it. Tops and rhizomes.
The more complete control of Roundup lasts longer than one year.”
– ”But is it worth it?”
Monsanto’s flagship product, Roundup, has been the center of a heated debate for years.
It's the most widely used weed killer in the world.
19 billion pounds of it have already been used since its release in the '70s.
It's on the food we eat,
it’s sprayed on playgrounds, at dog parks – it’s everywhere.
Its key ingredient, glyphosate, was classified as a probable carcinogen
by the World Health Organization in 2015.
Since then, Monsanto, now owned by Bayer, and its advocates have made it a mission
to convince people in the government that their product is safe.
“You can drink a whole quart of it and it won’t hurt you.”
– You want to drink some? We have some here.
– I’d be happy to, actually. Not really, but I know it wouldn’t hurt me.
– If you say so, I have some glyphosate. – No, no. I'm not stupid.
The use of Roundup skyrocketed in the mid-'90s,
when Monsanto created genetically modified crops that can resist the chemical.
This led to farming practices like spraying Roundup
across whole fields, and as a result on the food that people eat.
Glyphosate isn’t regulated by the USDA or the EPA.
The FDA only recently started testing foods for it,
after prompting from consumer groups and the Government Accountability Office.
And so once they gave you the diagnosis, what was your reaction?
That was the worst, you know, to hear that. That was the worst.
They didn't want to see the type of cancer they saw in the test, so they did another test.
And this time, my wife went and they did ... That test was pretty bad,
because she broke down and started crying and all that.
And they found out that I had cancer. That I had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
I have some painful lesions right now.
I have some stuff going on. But I've been doing this for so long that I'm starting to get used to the pain.
What were your kids' reactions when you first told them?
Breaking the news to them was really hard,
because you don't really ... as soon as you say "cancer," it's … people just count you out.
They picture you laid out.
They see me every day, so they see what I go through.
So they were told, but then they see it. They've seen the way bottom, where I've been at.
We’re headed to Benicia, California, the place I used to work.
That’s when I got a super-big exposure, because the holes broke on my equipment.
That’s when I had the shower of Ranger Pro all over me.
It went down in my protective gear. It went down in my suit, everywhere.
They don't use Roundup in the whole town anymore. They don't use it at all.
They stopped using the formula at all, but I don't know what other chemicals they use.
But they definitely stopped using that.
– And that’s since your case?
Yes, in this town and in another town about an hour from here called Novato, [California].
Novato also quit using the formulation.
Glyphosate is banned by cities and counties across the country.
France, Germany and a handful of other countries have also announced plans to phase it out or restrict it.
I'm glad that we made it past the threshold of where we can actually get more testing,
and the conversation is obviously brewing about what's going on with our food, with our soil and everything.
So it's a big deal, it's way bigger than me, so I'm just a part of the situation now.
Johnson hopes his case will bring awareness to the dangers of using Roundup near schools.
What we're pushing for is glyphosate-free campuses.
That's my push. My goal is to have a pesticide-free campuses for all schools.
People who are talking about this, the wave of attention it’s gotten,
people are just like tentacles of me.
I don’t have to say much or do much, because there’s so many people doing it before me,
and then doing it now, and will probably be doing it after me.
To keep grounds and keep farms and keep food safe.
A few months after the ruling, the judge overturned the jury’s award,
reducing it to $78 million.
Johnson agreed to the new amount,
but still hasn’t received any money yet to help pay for his cancer treatments.
It's almost dealing with ghost money and dealing with the attention at the same time.
That was a lot of time and it was hard going there, and to focus on trying to do that again,
even though it's worth a quarter billion dollars, it's not really worth it.
Because it was never about the money for me,
so I think that the courts have done their fair justice.
Right now, after me accepting the offer that was given, it’s up to the other side
to decide whether or not we go back to court.
They’ve already said publicly, over and over, they’re going to appeal,
so we’re expecting a year or two of appeals, maybe more.
That’s why I’m saying this this could outdo me.
Monsanto representatives declined to sit down for an interview with us, but said they would be appealing.
There are currently over 8,000 outstanding lawsuits against Monsanto.
Lee’s case could set a legal precedent that could affect the outcome of others
who wish to hold the company accountable.
I hope that it's an inspiration to people that would think
that if they had somebody or a company or something that wronged them.
If you go up against something bigger than you,
you either can get crushed or you can win,
so I would say yeah, use my story as an example that you actually could win.