Bayer offers up to $2 billion to settle future Roundup lawsuits

In its second proposal to settle future lawsuits that allege its Roundup weedkiller is carcinogenic, seed and ag-chemical giant Bayer said on Wednesday that it would pay up to $200 million to individual claimants and a maximum of $2 billion overall. The offer, which was submitted for approval to a U.S. district court judge in San Francisco, would cover lawsuits filed in the next four years.

“The class plan is intended to be one part of a holistic solution designed to provide further closure to the Monsanto Roundup litigation,” said Bayer, based in Germany.

Bayer proposed a $10.9 billion package last June that included up to $9.6 billion to resolve approximately 75% of the 125,000 cases that had been filed against Roundup and $1.25 billion for a separate class of future lawsuits to be guided by a science panel that would determine if Roundup causes non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and, if so, at what level of exposure. The proposal’s future lawsuits section was abandoned after U.S. Judge Vince Chhabria questioned if it was constitutional.

Litigation over Roundup has clouded Bayer’s financial prospects since it acquired Monsanto, the original maker of glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup, in 2018. Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the world.

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