The high profile cases in California and the potential class action in Saskatchewan represent a fraction of the lawsuits related to the safety of glyphosate.
Bayer faces more than “13,400 U.S. lawsuits over the herbicide’s alleged cancer risk,” Reuters reported May 13.
When it comes to the Saskatchewan class action, the court hasn’t decided whether it will proceed.
“The matters are at a very early stage,” Bayer said. “No steps have been taken to certify a class.”
Certifying a class action is a procedural matter; it’s not usually about the merits of the case, said Torys LLP, a major law firm in Canada.
“It is … aimed at screening cases that are not appropriate to be dealt with as a class proceeding,” Torys LLP says on its website.
“(But) the test for granting certification is a relatively easy one for plaintiffs to meet. Canadian courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada, have taken a very permissive view of class actions.”
