Roundup Class Action Settlement Over Lack of Cancer Warnings May Provide Fund Between $23M and $45M For Refunds

Plaintiffs say the lack of cancer warnings meant consumers were deceived about the value of Roundup and thus paid too much for the controversial weed killer.

Bayer and its Monsanto subsidiary have agreed to pay between $23 million and $45 million to settle a class action lawsuit over Roundup, resolving claims that consumers have overpaid for the controversial weed killer because the manufacturer failed to provide adequate cancer label warnings.

After once facing more than 120,000 product liability claims brought by individuals throughout the United States, Bayer and its Monsanto subsidiary have agreed to pay billions in Roundup settlements to resolve individual personal injury lawsuits and consumer class action claims, alleging that information has been withheld from consumers for decades about the link between Roundup and non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

In a motion (PDF) filed this week, plaintiffs involved in a proposed Roundup class action settlement asked the court for preliminary approval of a deal that would establish a fund against which consumers can obtain refunds for about 20% of the average retail price paid for Roundup products they purchased. The proposed Roundup settlement fund for the consumers class claims would provide a “floor” of $23 million being paid to consumers, with a “ceiling” of $45 million.

“The Settlement is fair and reasonable and provides the Settlement Class with an outstanding result,” according to a notice of the motion filed by plaintiffs’ attorneys. “Class Members stand to receive two-thirds of Plaintiffs’ estimate of best-case damages – and many times more than Monsanto’s expert’s estimate of damages – and the fund is sufficient to pay those amounts under anticipated claims rates.”

While agreeing to the settlement, Bayer has continued to dispute the class action claims, maintaining that it would have been illegal to put a cancer label warning on Roundup products, because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has claimed that glyphosate does not cause cancer. However, similar defenses presented in a number of Roundup non-Hodgkins lymphoma lawsuits filed by consumers have routinely failed at trial.

Roundup Cancer Litigation Status

Bayer and its Monsanto unit were hit with a series of massive verdicts in personal injury claims that went to trial in 2018 and 2019, leading the manufacturers to negotiate settlements to resolve large inventories of cases being being handled by individual law firms. However, thousands of lawsuits remain unresolved, and new cases continue to be filed as former users of the weedkiller are diagnosed with new cancer cases.

Reports suggest that Bayer has already agreed to pay about $16 billion to resolve roughly 75% of the injury cases filed, and a number of different class action claims.

To limit its future liability, Bayer also announced last year that it will remove the active ingredient glyphosate from Roundup weed killers sold to U.S. residential customers by 2023. The products would still be sold under the Roundup label, but would use a different active ingredient, which has not been linked to a risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. However, glyphosate would still be used in products sold to agricultural businesses and farmers, and in product sold in other parts of the world, Bayer officials said.

Bayer has noted the vast majority of Roundup cancer claims have come from U.S. residential users. However, the company is still expected to face years, if not decades, of future litigation and trials, as prior users develop non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after exposure to the product during the decades it has been on the market without any cancer warnings.