A federal judge in San Francisco gave final approval to a $38 million class action settlement in a case against Bayer over investors’ claims that it didn’t conduct due diligence before making a multibillion-dollar deal to acquire Monsanto in 2016.
Courthouse News reported the settlement was announced Oct. 30. The shareholders had sued in 2020, alleging that Bayer misled them about the litigation risks that Monsanto brought with it. Two months after the purchase, a San Francisco jury awarded $250 million to a plaintiff blaming glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup weed-killer, for his non-Hodgkins’ lymphoma. Since then, tens of thousands of similar lawsuits have been filed.
Bayer has paid out $11 billion to settle 100,000 Roundup lawsuits, with more pending. It continues to fight the remaining ones and to push scientific findings that glyphosate is not a cancer risk. Bayer set up a dedicated website to communicate its efforts to contain the lawsuits. It withdrew glyphosate products from its lawn and garden line and is pursuing both new laws in Congress and a Supreme Court ruling that would limit liability.
More than 278,000 class notices were sent to potential class members, leading to more than 153,000 claims as of Oct. 24, Chief District Judge Richard Seeborg said in his final approval order. A Bayer spokesperson told Courthouse News that the shareholder agreement resolves all future claims for the settlement class (shareholders) and does not reflect any admission of wrongdoing or liability.
David Murray can be reached at [email protected].
