Arkansas Jury Awards $48 Million to Rice Farmers Over Bayer GMO Contamination

Between 1999 and 2001, Bayer CropScience conducted outdoor field tests of LibertyLink Rice, a strain engineered to resist Bayer's 'Liberty' herbicide, at sites including the LSU Rice Research Station in Crowley, Louisiana. The variety had not received USDA approval for commercial sale or human consumption. By 2006, trace amounts of the GMO rice had entered the mainstream long-grain rice supply, a discovery that sent immediate shockwaves through export markets. Russia and Japan banned imports of U.S. long-grain rice. Other trading partners required costly GMO-free certification. The market disruption slashed prices and revenues for American rice growers who had no part in Bayer's experiments.

Eleven Lonoke County, Arkansas rice farming families brought suit against Bayer CropScience, arguing the company's negligent handling of the field-test material caused their economic losses. Attorneys Scott A. Powell and Bruce J. McKee of Hare Wynn Newell and Newton led the plaintiffs' trial team.

At trial, Powell and McKee presented expert testimony on the farmers' economic losses and pressed the jury to hold Bayer accountable not just for the harm caused but for the recklessness of releasing an unapproved strain into the food chain without adequate containment. Bayer challenged the qualifications of the plaintiffs' damage expert and argued the economic loss doctrine barred recovery. The trial court rejected both arguments.

The Lonoke County jury returned a verdict of $5,975,605 in compensatory damages and $42,000,000 in punitive damages, a total of just under $48 million. Bayer appealed, contesting the punitive award and invoking Arkansas's statutory cap on punitive damages. The Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed the verdict in full in December 2011, holding the punitive damages cap unconstitutional as applied and ruling that the plaintiffs' damage expert was properly qualified. The court also found the economic loss doctrine did not bar recovery because the contamination caused damage to property.

The case was part of broader national litigation that ultimately resulted in Bayer reaching a global settlement with U.S. farmers of approximately $750 million across thousands of claims.