Monsanto Removes Latest Roundup Lawsuit, Says Local Defendants Fraudulently Joined

SAN FRANCISCO –– Monsanto Co. has removed a lawsuit asserting claims related to the company’s Roundup herbicide, saying that the plaintiff had fraudulently joined local defendants in an effort to destroy federal jurisdiction.

The defendant removed the case to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on March 14, according to court documents.

Plaintiff DeWayne Johnson alleged in his complaint, originally filed in the California Superior Court for San Francisco County, that he developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma as a result of exposure to glyphosate in the herbicide Roundup.

Monsanto removed the complaint, however, saying that complete diversity …