Monsanto Roundup Settlement Avoids $2B Payout in Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Lawsuit

After a Georgia jury hit the manufacturer with a massive punitive damage award earlier this year, Monsanto elected to settle the Roundup lawsuit for an undisclosed amount, dropping efforts to obtain a new trial.

The makers of Roundup have agreed to a settlement that avoids the need to pay more than $2 billion to a man who developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which a jury determined was caused by exposure to the controversial weed killer.

The award stemmed from a March 2025 verdict returned by a Georgia jury, which ruled in favor of John Barnes, who filed the Roundup lawsuit in 2021. The jury awarded him $65 million in compensatory damages, with an additional $2 billion in punitive damages designed to punish Bayer and its Monsanto unit for withholding information about the cancer risks associated with Roundup from consumers.

Although the manufacturers had vowed to contest the verdict, both sides now say that an undisclosed Roundup settlement payout will resolve the claim, avoiding further court battles that sought to reduce the award or grant the defendants a new trial.

Roundup is a popular weed-killing herbicide that contains the active ingredient glyphosate and has been used for decades by farmers, landscapers and homeowners. While it has long been marketed as safe for routine use, a growing body of research has linked glyphosate exposure to an increased risk of cancer, a danger the manufacturers never disclosed on the product’s label.

As concerns about Roundup’s safety grew, tens of thousands of former users began filing Roundup lawsuits alleging that long-term exposure to glyphosate caused their non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. 

At the height of the litigation, Bayer and Monsanto faced more than 180,000 claims, which resulted in more than $10 billion in settlements for a large number of plaintiffs. However, thousands of additional cases remain unresolved, and new Roundup claims continue to be filed as additional users receive cancer diagnoses.

The verdict returned in Barnes’ case was one of a series of massive Roundup lawsuit payouts awarded by juries in recent years, after evidence was presented that detailed how Monsanto knew or should have known about the non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma risks linked to Roundup, but put profits ahead of consumer safety.

According to a consent judgment (PDF) filed on November 12, the parties have reached a confidential Roundup settlement to resolve the claim. While there have been little to no details released on the amount of the payout, the parties jointly requested that the court vacate the original verdict, as well as the various motions to overturn the judgment.

Bayer Seeks End to Roundup Litigation

After a series of multi-million dollar verdicts in recent years demonstrated Bayer and Monsanto’s difficulty defending the safety of Roundup at trial, recent reports indicate the company has urged U.S. lawmakers to grant special legal protections against future lawsuits, warning it may otherwise withdraw the product from the U.S. market.

Bayer has repeatedly attempted to convince courts to dismiss Roundup lawsuits, arguing that the company should be exempt from liability under existing federal preemption laws. However, judges have repeatedly shot down the company’s legal theory, and lawsuits continue to move forward through the U.S. court system.

Following billions paid out in Roundup settlements, Bayer announced in 2021 that it would reformulate Roundup and remove the active ingredient glyphosate from consumer versions of the weedkiller. However, there doesn’t appear to be any end in sight for liability the company may face, as juries continue to hear evidence about how long Monsanto knew about the potential cancer risks.