San Francisco jury rules Monsanto's Roundup caused Sonoma Co. man's lymphoma

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A federal jury in San Francisco ruled Tuesday that exposure to Monsanto Co.'s Roundup herbicide was a substantial factor in causing the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of a Sonoma County man.

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The unanimous verdict by a six-person civil jury enables the lawsuit by Edwin Hardeman, 70, to move to a second phase of trial to determine Monsanto's financial liability.

U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria scheduled opening arguments to begin Wednesday morning.

The jury reached the verdict on its fifth day of deliberation. Hardeman's lawsuit is the first to go to trial of more than 760 lawsuits that were filed against Monsanto in federal courts around the nation and transferred to Chhabria's court for judicial coordination.