Bayer Settles $2 Billion Roundup Case as Company Gears Up to Contain Lawsuits
With tens of thousands of cases still active, Bayer is hoping to extricate itself from the litigation surrounding its Roundup weed killer.
The company recently announced that it was adding more than $1 billion to its war chest devoted to Roundup lawsuits and, shortly after that news, resolved one of the largest verdicts in this litigation.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported last week that Bayer has agreed to a settlement with a Georgia man who won a $2 billion jury verdict over claims that Roundup caused his non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
The exact details of that settlement agreement were kept under wraps, but Bayer has recently settled several other Roundup cases as well.
Settlement Resolves One of the Largest Roundup Verdicts Ever
The new Roundup settlement agreement allows Bayer to move on from what had been one of the largest verdicts handed out in the history of the years-long litigation.
That verdict had awarded $65 million in compensatory damages and $2 billion in punitive damages to John Barnes, who developed cancer after using Roundup for 20 years. It was the largest single-plaintiff injury verdict in Georgia history.
From the plaintiff’s side, a settlement agreement allows for a faster payout instead of what would have likely been a lengthy legal battle over the fate of the $2 billion verdict. A judge had previously reduced a separate $2.25 billion Roundup verdict against Bayer to $400 million.
For Bayer, the settlement presents an opportunity to move forward after a major loss as other critical defeats in the litigation mount.
The Missouri Supreme Court recently decided against taking up Bayer’s appeal of a $611 million Roundup verdict, leaving the company with limited options to avoid paying the affected plaintiffs.
Bayer Pursuing Multiple Paths for Resolution of Roundup Lawsuits
Bayer has spent years working to resolve Roundup lawsuits, but people are still filing new cases. As of this fall, there were more than 60,000 active lawsuits across federal and state courts, even though the company previously agreed to a $10 billion settlement in 2020 that resolved tens of thousands of cases.
Now, the company is pursuing several different strategies in its stated quest to contain the litigation by the end of 2026.
One option is to seek the help of the U.S. Supreme Court, although it is unclear how likely an outcome that is. Bayer has filed a petition for the court to weigh in on a Roundup case, which could largely end the litigation in the company’s favor if it receives a favorable ruling.
But months after that petition was filed, the Supreme Court has remained quiet on whether it will hear the case. Even if it does choose to take it up, multiple lower courts have already ruled against Bayer on the issues at hand.
The company may also continue to settle more lawsuits, either individually or as part of larger settlement agreements. The Wall Street Journal reported in May that Bayer was considering a settlement for the many cases housed in Missouri state court.
