Roundup Class Action Lawsuit Linked to $7.2B NHL Settlement Transferred to Federal MDL

Some plaintiffs are opposing the proposed Roundup settlement agreement, saying a Missouri state-court judge did not have the authority to approve it.

A panel of federal judges has determined that a Missouri class action lawsuit at the center of a proposed $7.2 billion Roundup settlement agreement should be transferred from state court to the federal multidistrict litigation (MDL), where it will be consolidated with thousands of other claims in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Over the past decade, Bayer and its Monsanto subsidiary have faced more than 120,000 Roundup lawsuits filed in federal and state courts nationwide, each involving former users of the controversial weedkiller who developed non-Hodgkins lymphoma (NHL).

The claims raise similar allegations that the manufacturers knew or should have known that Roundup exposure increased the risk of cancer, yet Monsanto concealed those risks from consumers to protect profits at the expense of public health.

The litigation has gone through years of legal maneuvers, in addition to several trials held in state and federal courts. In many of the trials, plaintiffs were awarded multimillion, and sometimes multibillion dollar verdicts, though some judges have reduced the largest of those.

The first Roundup cancer trial was held in California state court in August 2018, resulting in a $289 million verdict for a school groundskeeper that was later reduced to $78 million. The first Roundup case to go before a federal jury was held in 2019, ending in an $80 million verdict. Later that year, another California state trial led to a $2 billion verdict for a couple who both developed cancer after working with Roundup for years. That award was later reduced to $87 million.

Roundup NHL Settlement Agreement

In February, Monsanto announced that it had reached a $7.25 billion settlement agreement to resolve a class action lawsuit filed by Randall King, who seeks to pursue damages for individuals nationwide who have developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after regular exposure to glyphosate contained in Roundup.

One month later, a Minnesota state court judge granted preliminary approval to the settlement plan, which is designed to resolve both current and future Roundup cancer claims.

On May 28, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation issued a conditional transfer order (PDF), sending the lawsuit at the center of the class action settlement to the Northern District of California. The case will be consolidated with thousands of other federal Roundup claims pending before U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria as part of the MDL where coordinated pretrial proceedings are underway.

The transfer may make the proposed settlement more relevant to the broader litigation, since the class action will now proceed before the same judge overseeing the federal Roundup cancer lawsuits.

The proposed class settlement will pay declining capped annual payments over the next 21 years, totaling $7.25 billion. Bayer said immediate financing for the settlement and other litigation-related obligations would be secured through an $8 billion bank loan facility.

Roundup Settlement Opposed

Transferring the class action to the federal MDL makes it more likely that the agreement can be applied to other claims, and could help anchor a global settlement that resolves years of litigation. However, some plaintiffs have opposed the deal.

In April, a motion was filed in the Northern District of California calling for injunctive relief for plaintiffs whose Roundup cancer lawsuits were filed or transferred into the MDL.

The motion indicated that the Missouri judge’s approval of the deal should not affect cases in the MDL, arguing that the judge overstepped his authority by approving a class-wide agreement. Some plaintiffs also argue that the process for opting out was made intentionally complicated to dissuade plaintiffs and make it harder for those unsatisfied with the deal from overturning it.

The decision by the JPML to transfer that particular claim to the MDL works directly against that motion. Meanwhile, plaintiffs supporting the settlement claim they represent more than 60% of all Roundup lawsuit plaintiffs and allege that the firms calling for the injunctive relief represent less than 1% of plaintiffs.

Plaintiffs supporting the deal have noted that the vast majority of claims have all been sent to Missouri state court in recent years following the bellwether trials, leaving only 250 Roundup cancer lawsuits in the federal MDL at this stage.

Bayer Seeks Lawsuit Immunity From Supreme Court

The decision comes about a month after the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on whether Monsanto and Bayer should be granted immunity from litigation. The manufacturers claim the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s approval of Roundup and its label warnings preempt any failure to warn lawsuits, while plaintiffs argue the approval in no way blocks state courts from requiring stronger warning labels.

Numerous parties, including the federal government and more than a dozen state attorneys general have filed briefs in support of Bayer’s call for immunity, following an intense, multi-state lobbying campaign.

Previously, Bayer indicated it would remove glyphosate from Roundup products sold in the U.S. However, in February the White House announced plans to encourage ramped up production, claiming the need for the weed killer was a matter of national security.

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