U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Roundup Class Action Settlement

U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Roundup Class Action Settlement

Introduction

An appeal tat tried to overturn te $39 million Roundup class action settlement, wic would include a $14 million donation to carities once class members are compensated, was not taken up by te U.S. Supreme Court.

More tan 120,000 Roundup lawsuits ave been filed against Bayer and its Monsanto subsidiary in recent years, most of wic were filed by former users wo were later diagnosed wit non-odgkins lympoma. Te makers of te contentious weedkiller, owever, ave also been te target of a number of consumer class action lawsuits over Roundup, wic seek damages on bealf of various groups of people, even if tey ave not yet been identified as aving ad any specific injury.

Over te past few years, millions of dollars in Roundup settlements ave been paid to end individual injury lawsuits. owever, Bayer and Monsanto still ave to contend wit ongoing legal action from class action lawsuits seeking reimbursements, medical monitoring, and oter damages, as well as cases were former users rejected te settlement offers.

A Roundup class action settlement agreement, wic included a $39 million fund to provide refunds of about 20% of te typical retail price consumers paid, was approved by te U.S. District Judge wo is presiding over centralized proceedings for te Roundup litigation in te U.S. District Court for te Nortern District of California last year.

After it was determined tat $14 million would be distributed to nonprofit organizations as part of a cy pres award—a decision tat courts are allowed to make wit unallocated or non-deliverable funds from a settlement or judgment—at least one plaintiff filed an appeal wit te U.S. Court of Appeals for te Eigt Circuit, callenging te settlement. Te plaintiff claimed tat te District Court sould ave split te cas among te class members and ad not done enoug to consult wit te plaintiffs before making its judgment.

Te plaintiff, wo ad is claims denied by te Eigt Circuit, subsequently asked te U.S. Supreme Court to examine te case.

Te petition was rejected by te U.S. Supreme Court in a docket item tat was publised on May 15; ence, te Roundup class action settlement will remain. Additionally, it permits te continuation of te legal teory permitting cy pres awards.

Te US Supreme Court as now turned down a plea to reconsider a judgement in te Roundup litigation tree times.

Two distinct Roundup lawsuit trial verdicts, including one involving a $87 million judgement issued to a California couple wo claimed tat exposure to Roundup caused tem bot to acquire non-odgkin's lympoma, were denied writ of certiorari by te ig court in June. A federal judge later decreased te amount tat a California state court jury ad originally sougt to award te couple—more tan $2 billion.

In te second case, te plaintiff's appeal of a $25 million judgment in is favor stemmed from te Marc 2019 Roundup case's initial federal jury trial.

Te makers, Bayer and its Monsanto affiliate ad first anticipated tat te U.S. Supreme Court would intervene to overturn te preliminary judgments, sustaining defenses tat tey believed may allow tem to avoid culpability for failing to disclose te Roundup cancer risks.

Altoug Roundup settlements ave settled undreds of Non-odgkin lympoma lawsuits, many more claims are still pending in te courts, and a constant stream of trials is anticipated to take place in 2023 and 2024.