Overview
Partner Shannen Coffin and of counsel Mark Savignac authored an article for Washington Legal Foundation, "Next Stop, SCOTUS?: Preemption Holding Creates Circuit Split Over Pesticide Labeling." The article discusses the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit's decision in Schaffner v. Monsanto Corp., and the circuit split that it creates regarding express preemption under FIFRA. The Third Circuit held that federal law preempts state-law failure-to-warn claims against Monsanto for not warning about cancer on Roundup labels, diverging from contrary rulings of the Ninth and Eleventh Circuits that had permitted similar state law claims to proceed. This conflict raises the likelihood of Supreme Court review to resolve the issue, impacting numerous glyphosate-related liability claims against Monsanto.
Steptoe LLP represented CropLife America, the leading industry trade association for pesticide manufacturers, as amicus curiae in support of Monsanto in the Third Circuit. Read more here.
