Bayer aims to revise $1.1 billion class settlement over Roundup
The settlement was part of Bayer’s strategy to cap Monsanto’s liability for future claims alleging Roundup caused non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Just as Bayer’s strategy to cap subsidiary Monsanto’s liability for future claims over Roundup with a $1.1 billion class settlement was about to reach a decision, its lawyers withdrew their court documents in order to revise the agreement.
Plaintiffs attorney Elizabeth Cabraser filed the notice of withdrawal Wednesday (July 8). The filing comes after U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria of the Northern District of California raised several concerns about the settlement, reached last month alongside a raft of other agreements, valued at up to $10.9 billion, which resolved 75% of the 125,000 claims alleging Roundup caused non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
“We remain strongly committed to a fair and just resolution that serves the needs and interests of persons exposed to Roundup who are not otherwise included in the negotiations for the comprehensive resolution of the thousands of individual cases, in support of a settlement for all,” said Cabraser, of San Francisco’s Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein. Her firm represents plaintiffs in the class action along with The Dugan Law Firm in New Orleans; Audet & Partners in San Francisco; and New York University School of Law professor Samuel Issacharoff.
Bayer, in a statement, said it agreed with the decision.
“The withdrawal will enable the parties to more comprehensively address the questions recently raised by federal district court judge Vince Chhabria of the Northern District of California who presides over the federal Roundup litigation,” the statement said. “Bayer remains strongly committed to a resolution that simultaneously addresses both the current litigation on reasonable terms and a viable solution to manage and resolve potential future litigation. Mass tort settlements agreements like this are complex and may require some adjustments along the way, but the company continues to believe that a settlement on appropriate terms is in the best interest of Bayer and all of its stakeholders.”
The settlement resolves claims of individuals who haven’t sued yet but use Roundup — some of whom have non-Hodgkin lymphoma and some who do not.
Under the deal, a science panel would give the final say on whether Roundup causes non-Hodgkin lymphoma, ending the debate in the courts, and plaintiffs, if the decision goes in their favor, could sue, but only for compensatory damages.
Unlike Bayer’s other Roundup agreements, a judge must approve the class settlement under the Federal Rule 23 of Civil Procedure and the class action guidelines in the Northern District of California, where Chhabria sits in San Francisco.
Chhabria had scheduled a July 24 hearing on the settlement’s preliminary approval.
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