Bayer has agreed to postpone two upcoming trials involving its Roundup weedkiller, citing ongoing settlement talks with plaintiffs.
Bayer, which acquired Roundup in 2018 as part of its $63 billion purchase of St. Louis-based Monsanto Co., agreed to delay two trials that were set to begin in January in California, according to a company email sent to Bloomberg.
Other Roundup trials, including in St. Louis, are still scheduled to begin in January, Bayer said. Three more cases are scheduled for trial in February and March. “If these other cases don’t settle and go to trial, it could signal that a settlement may take more time to negotiate,” Tom Claps of Susquehanna Financial Group said in a note to clients.
The cost of a settlement is estimated to be in the $10 billion to $12 billion range, according to Bloomberg Intelligence litigation analyst Holly Froum.
The two postponed trials in California involve plaintiffs under the age of 15, creating a “high-risk trial atmosphere for Bayer,” Claps said in the note.
Former Monsanto Co. Chairman and CEO Hugh Grant has been ordered to testify in person at a Roundup trial scheduled to begin this January in St. Louis.
Grant, who led St. Louis-based Monsanto from 2003 until the company was sold to Bayer AG of Germany in 2018, was subpoenaed by lawyers for plaintiff Sharlean Gordon, who contends the Roundup weedkiller caused her non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 27 in St. Louis County Circuit Court.
The number of people suing over Roundup total more than 42,700, Bayer disclosed in reporting third-quarter financial results. In the first and only three Roundup cases to go to trial, all in California, juries awarded plaintiffs more than $2 billion for cancer claims, though the awards were significantly reduced by judges and Bayer plans appeals.
Bayer and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have said repeatedly that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is safe.
Last summer, Werner Baumann, CEO of the German pharmaceuticals giant, told investors that Ken Feinberg, the high-profile mediator appointed by a court to lead settlement talks, wouldn’t have agreed to take the job if he didn’t think he could broker a deal, Bloomberg said.
Settlement negotiations have been ongoing for months, led by Feinberg. Bayer also hired John Beisner of the Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom law firm to advise a committee set up to resolve the Roundup litigation.
Contact Roundup Weed Killer Lawyer Northland Injury Law
Here in Missouri there are a significant number of golf courses and agriculture that potentially expose workers on golf courses and farmers to Roundup. Northland Injury Law is reviewing claims on behalf of agriculture workers as well as any other men and women who develop non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after using Roundup weed-killer.
Northland Injury Law is a Kansas City law firm that has been representing victims for over 30 years. Being sensitive to the signs of cancer and to the catastrophic effects a cancer injury can lead to has made Northland Injury Law well equipped to handle these cases. We offer free consultations where we analyze your claim, tell you whether you have a valid case, answer your questions and discuss the best options available to you and your family moving forward. Give us a call at 816-400-4878.
