Roundup settlement – Lawyers for some Roundup claimants have asked to shift a pending $7.25 billion class-action settlement into federal court, calling it a “sweetheart deal” that would leave cancer victims undercompensated. The move could delay a June 4 participation deadline and
On the calendar, June 4 is close enough to feel like a deadline that could lock people into a choice. For lawyers trying to fight a looming $7.25 billion Roundup settlement, it is also a point of pressure. For the families watching for compensation after cancer diagnoses. it’s a separate kind of anxiety: waiting to see whether the Supreme Court will pull the legal floor out from under the deal.
The dispute is centered on a question the Supreme Court is taking up next: whether Roundup—an herbicide sold by Monsanto and now owned by Bayer—must carry a cancer warning. The owner of the weedkiller is challenging a $1.25 million verdict won by a plaintiff who alleged the product caused cancer.
At the same time. attorneys backing the Supreme Court case are working to derail the pending class-action settlement that they say would resolve many of the lawsuits. Their argument is blunt: the settlement is not meant to fairly compensate people who believe Roundup harmed them. but instead to protect Monsanto and manage liability.
“The sweetheart deal” claim is at the heart of their court filing. The lawyers said the settlement would not adequately compensate people who believe they have been sickened by Roundup while offering too much protection to Monsanto. They described the class action as a way to “launder a liability-management scheme through the courts. ” according to the language in their filing.
They filed papers on May 22 seeking to move the case from state court to federal court. The effort could land the settlement dispute before a federal judge who has criticized the deal. Just as importantly for claimants. the filing is expected to at least delay the June 4 deadline for people who believe they’ve been harmed by Roundup to decide whether to participate.
That timing matters because it also affects the likelihood the settlement will be finalized before the Supreme Court decides whether to allow claims to proceed. A decision is expected by early July.
During the Supreme Court’s April debate on the Roundup case. a majority of the justices did not clearly tip their hand about how they might rule. That uncertainty makes the decision harder for people who have been told to choose whether to join the settlement now—especially when the legal question at the heart of their claims may not be answered until later.
Bayer. the German pharmaceutical and biotech giant that acquired Monsanto in 2018. is trying to narrow the fight on two tracks at once: it wants both the Supreme Court ruling and the pending settlement to limit how many future lawsuits can proceed. and it is also pushing for legislation to shield it from liability.
Ashley Keller, who represents the Roundup user at the center of the Supreme Court case as well as other litigants, said the structure and schedule of the settlement were designed to create pressure and confusion.
He argued that the tight timeline was “designed to maximize uncertainty” about what the justices might do—uncertainty he said acts as an added push to force a deal.
Keller called the settlement “a huge settlement that is extinguishing the rights of tens of thousands of cancer victims,” adding that it “was rushed into state court.”
The underlying scientific and regulatory backdrop is part of why the Supreme Court case has taken on such urgency. The Environmental Protection Agency. which regulates pesticides. has not determined that Roundup poses a cancer risk and does not require a label saying it does. The Supreme Court is now weighing whether that regulatory stance means Roundup users who develop cancer cannot sue by claiming the weedkiller violates state laws on dangerous products.
The push and pull here is stark: people facing cancer and lawsuits want clarity on whether their claims can reach a jury. while Bayer and the settlement supporters are trying to close the door on sprawling litigation. And with the Supreme Court decision expected by early July. the June 4 settlement participation deadline may become a point where timing. strategy. and patient expectations collide.
If the Supreme Court sides with Bayer or limits the path for lawsuits. the settlement could appear to be the only option for many claimants. If the court leaves more room for state-law suits to proceed. the urgency behind the settlement—and the argument that it was meant to lock people out—could become even harder to dismiss.
Roundup settlement Supreme Court Monsanto Bayer cancer warning class action June 4 deadline $7.25 billion $1.25 million verdict EPA pesticide regulation Ashley Keller