Lawyers of an Australian gardener have filed a lawsuit against Bayer AG agricultural chemicals unit Monsanto for severe harm caused by an ingredient used in its weed killer Roundup, the first such case in the country.

According to Reuters, the lawsuit follows court rulings in the U.S. linking Roundup’s main ingredient, glyphosate, to cancer.

It noted that Bayer's previous court losses in the states have already taken tens of billions of dollars off Bayer’s market value.

In the court documents filed in the Australian state of Victoria on Monday, self-employed Michael Ogalirolo, 54, said he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma - a type of leukemia - after using Monsanto’s Roundup for more than 20 years, said the publication.

“Roundup products are dangerous to human health and unfit to be marketed and sold in commerce, particularly without proper warnings and directions,” the writ filed by Carbone Lawyers reads.

Bayer said it was aware of reports regarding a statement of claim about glyphosate but had not received a writ.

“We have great sympathy for any individual with cancer, but the extensive body of science on glyphosate-based herbicides over four decades supports the conclusion that Roundup does not cause non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma,” it commented in a statement.

Ogalirolo is seeking damages from the company for endangering his life, loss of income, cost of care, as well as “punishing the company for supplying a product that is not safe”, Reuters reported Ogalirolo’s lawyer, Tony Carbone, as saying.

It will be the first action of its kind in Australia, he added.