Bayer's US Supreme Court Case: Implications for Roundup Litigation

Supreme Court to Hear Arguments in Bayer Case on Monday

The United States Supreme Court will hear arguments on Monday in Bayer's bid to limit thousands of lawsuits alleging that the company's Roundup weedkiller causes cancer. The case, which is part of a sprawling yearslong litigation over the product, has significant implications for Bayer's overall liability.

Background of the Case

The Supreme Court will hear Bayer's appeal of a lower court's ruling in a case brought by John Durnell, a man who claimed he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, after years of exposure to Roundup. The Missouri Court of Appeals upheld a $1.25 million verdict that a St. Louis jury awarded Durnell over his cancer diagnosis.

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Bayer is facing tens of thousands of similar lawsuits over Roundup in both federal and state courts across the country. At issue at the Supreme Court is whether a federal law dictating warning labels on pesticides takes precedence over similar state laws. Bayer argues that plaintiffs cannot claim it violated state laws by failing to warn about any cancer risk posed by Roundup because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has found no such risk and requires no such warning on the product's label.

Status of the Roundup Lawsuits

Bayer is facing claims over Roundup from approximately 65,000 plaintiffs in U.S. state and federal courts. In lawsuits filed beginning in 2015, plaintiffs have said they developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma and other forms of cancer after using the weedkiller at home or on the job. Roundup is among the most widely used weedkillers in the United States. Bayer has said decades of studies have shown Roundup and its active ingredient, glyphosate, are safe for human use.

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Bayer's $7.25 Billion Settlement

In February, Bayer announced it had reached a $7.25 billion settlement with attorneys seeking to represent a nationwide class of people who have said Roundup exposure caused their cancer. The deal is aimed at resolving most of the remaining lawsuits as well as potential future lawsuits from people who already have been exposed to Roundup and develop cancer in the future.

Impact of the Supreme Court Ruling

If the Supreme Court sides with Bayer, the ruling would not automatically mean that all remaining lawsuits would be dismissed. Plaintiffs have accused Bayer of being negligent and misrepresenting Roundup's safety in its marketing, and have alleged that the product was defective for its intended purpose. However, a win for Bayer at the Supreme Court could help the company win appeals in a handful of cases that it has lost at trial.