Bayer Says Investigation Into Stakeholder Lists Shows No Illegal Behavior
September 05 2019 - 5:59AM
Dow Jones News
By Kim Richters
Bayer AG (BAYN.XE) said Thursday that it has found no evidence
of illegal behavior relating to lists Bayer-owned Monsanto compiled
on more than a thousand individuals and their stance on the use of
herbicide glyphosate, following an investigation that the company
commissioned.
Earlier this year, the German pharmaceutical and chemical giant
faced fresh legal concerns after it was reported that Monsanto and
U.S. public-relations firm FleishmanHillard had drawn up files on
personalities and their views on the alleged health risks of
glyphosate in 2016.
Bayer hired U.S. law firm Sidley Austin to carry out the
investigation, saying it wanted to clarify the allegations that
Monsanto or the PR firm had collected confidential or private data
in violation of legal regulations.
"There is no question that the ... stakeholder lists created
were detailed, methodical, and designed to strongly advocate
Monsanto's positions to stakeholders and to the public," the law
firm said on Thursday about the lists of some 1,475 people from
countries such as France, Germany or Spain.
"There was also no evidence that the lists were based on illegal
'surveillance' of individuals, as claimed by the media," Bayer said
on Thursday. It said the content of the lists available to Sidley
Austin was largely from publicly available information such as
press articles or social media accounts.
However, it said that the law firm didn't find a "specific
French document shown in French media on which the public
discussion focused, in which leisure or other interests (golf,
tennis, hunting, etc.) were mentioned as one key area of
focus."
Additionally, Bayer said that the German council for public
relations had also investigated the issue but found no
wrongdoing.
Write to Kim Richters at kim.richters@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 05, 2019 06:44 ET (10:44 GMT)
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