Judge criticizes proposed $7.25 billion Roundup settlement

Bayer AG

30/04/2026 23:43

By Dietrich Knauth

April 30 (Reuters) -
A federal judge overseeing thousands of lawsuits alleging Bayer’s Roundup weedkiller causes cancer raised “grave concerns” on Thursday about a proposed $7.25 billion settlement being rushed through a Missouri state court, questioning whether it could legally bind people who may develop cancer in the future.

U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria, who has about 4,000 Roundup lawsuits consolidated before him in California federal court, said that he had doubts about the state court’s ability to bind future claimants nationwide who were exposed to Roundup but do not yet have cancer. He also sharply criticized the process by which Bayer and the plaintiffs’ lawyers backing the deal have pushed the settlement forward.

Despite those concerns, he said he was not inclined to interfere with the Missouri settlement until it directly impacts the cases pending in his court.

The state court settlement is not designed to sweep in those cases, but attorneys representing plaintiffs in the federal court had asked Chhabria to roll back some of the "oppressive" conditions for opting their clients and future claimants out of the deal.

"Whatever problems there are in the settlement agreement - and there are many - that is for the appellate courts in Missouri to address and possibly for the U.S. Supreme Court to address," Chhabria said at a court hearing Thursday.

Attorneys for the Missouri class action plaintiffs and Bayer largely declined to respond to Chhabria’s criticisms during the hearing, agreeing with his overall conclusion that battles over the deal should take place in Missouri state court.

Bayer unit Monsanto said in a statement that it looks forward to finalizing the settlement, which is supported by lawyers with tens of thousands of clients.

HIGH-STAKES LEGAL BATTLE

Plaintiffs say that Roundup's active ingredient, glyphosate, causes cancer, and they developed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and other forms of the disease after using the weedkiller at home or on the job.

Bayer acquired Roundup as part of its $63 billion purchase of agrochemical company Monsanto in 2018. It has said decades of studies have shown Roundup and glyphosate are safe and do not cause cancer.

Bayer has continued to be dogged by Roundup lawsuits after a paying $10 billion in 2020 to settle most of the Roundup lawsuits then pending. In February, it announced a proposed $7.25 billion nationwide settlement intended to resolve current and future lawsuits from people who allege that Roundup exposure caused their cancer.

Many law firms with Roundup clients have signaled support for the settlement, but others, including the lead counsel for the consolidated litigation in federal court, oppose it.

The deal received preliminary approval from Missouri judge Timothy Boyer on March 4, and Boyer will consider final approval in July.

Chhabria said Thursday that the settlement was probably not binding on future claimants. If someone develops cancer in the future and wants to file a lawsuit blaming Roundup in federal court, Chhabria said he would hear arguments from all sides, but would likely allow it.

“As I sit here today, I cannot imagine ruling that that person would be bound by the settlement agreement, because the settlement agreement seems to be so legally problematic,” Chhabria said.

Chhabria rejected a previous settlement proposal in 2021 over Bayer's effort to resolve future claims.

Chhabria criticized what he called the deal's "bizarre" opt-out procedures, which require all Roundup users to affirmatively decide to opt out of the settlement over the summer, even if they do not have cancer now. People who develop cancer in the future would still be bound by the deadline and would be swept into the settlement by default.

Chhabria also criticized the settlement for proceeding rapidly behind closed doors, saying that that deal had been conditionally approved in state court before anyone had a chance to object.

The case is In re Roundup Products Liability Litigation, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 16-md-2741.

For the MDL plaintiffs: Robin Greenwald and Robert Quigley of Weitz & Luxenberg

For state court class counsel: Chris Seeger of Seeger Weiss and Brian Fitzpatrick

Read more:

Bayer's $7.25 billion Roundup settlement gets initial OK from Missouri judge

US Supreme Court split over Bayer's fight against Roundup lawsuits

 (Reporting by Dietrich Knauth)

 ((Dietrich.Knauth@thomsonreuters.com;))