Of the Lawsuit Against Monsanto By Vietnamese Legal Organization

                    Several months ago Monsanto was ordered by a court to pay $289 million dollars to an American citizen who claims that Monsanto's weed killer caused his cancer.  Monsanto supplied the U.S with Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.  Agent Orange was used to burn through the jungle that the Vietnam soldiers hid in.  The chemical agent has been known to cause debilitating health problems, birth defects, and infertility.  In spring 2017, after  Monsanto Tribunal in The Hague, the Netherlands spent six months investigating and two days testifying, came to the conclusion that Monsanto produced a chemical agent that greatly harmed the environment in Vietnam.  Monsanto rejected the ruling and claimed that the company was not at fault because Monsanto produced Agent Orange for the U.S government to use.  However, the firm still agreed to pay American war veterans that suffered from the effects of Agent Orange $180 million as a result of a class-action lawsuit against the company.  This case could set a president for the case that the Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA) plans to bring once again against Monsanto.
                    In 2004 the organization tried to file a class action lawsuit against Monsanto three times and the case was rejected because the court claimed that there not enough evidence that the diseases of Vietnamese people exposed to Agent Orange was caused by Agent Orange and that Monsanto is blameless as it produced Agent Orange for the U.S to use.  Recent advances of science has made it easier to link diseases and birth defects to exposure to Agent Orange.  The Vietnamese government estimates that 4.8 million people were exposed to Agent Orange.  There are still babies being born in Vietnam with birth defects because the grandfather was exposed to agent orange.  It is important to note that the Vietnamese government shells out approximately $431.1 million a year provide monthly allowance and cover health care and physical rehabilitation expenses for victims of Agent Orange.  The lawsuit that the Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin plans to bring against Monsanto would cover three million Vietnamese victims of exposure to agent orange.  Also, American lawyers have sided with Vietnam on this issue and Vietnam has been trying to get international support on this issue.  The Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin is hopeful that this support combined with the recent precedent set by the recent settlement that came as a result of a lawsuit against Monsanto will help their case be successful.  The case will take place in U.S courts under U.S law.
               Bayer recently brought Monsanto.  It is important to note that the German chemical company  Bayer used to be part of IG Farben.  IG Farben used to be a major contractor for the government under NAZI Germany.  Given that Monsanto was facing a potential lawsuit it will be interesting to see how Bayer and Germany protect themselves from the liabilities.  Not to mention that Bayer could now be sued for the damage Monsanto's GMO seeds did to the environment and the harmful effects on health that Monsanto's weed killer is notorious for.  

References

  

I.G. Farben

I.G. Farbenindustrie AG German Industry and the Holocaust

   http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/economics/igfarben.html