Supreme Court Rejects Bayer's Second Roundup Lawsuit Appeal

Introduction

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take into account an appeal resulting from the second of two early trial verdicts, rejecting Bayer's request for a decision that would put an end to all future Roundup lawsuits.

Bayer appealed against the $87 million verdict awarded to a couple who claimed to develop non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma due to the exposure to Roundup weedkiller. Earlier in May 2019, a California state court jury originally awarded the couple more than $2 billion as a settlement, but the amount was later reduced. Bayer's writ of certiorari in the lawsuit has been now denied by the supreme court.

This week's decision not to even examine the appeal comes shortly after the Supreme Court dismissed a case involving a plaintiff's appeal involving a Roundup product that resulted in a $25 million judgement in federal court in March 2019.

Because the EPA had previously approved the weed killer and the warning label provided to consumers, Bayer has based a significant portion of its legal defence strategy in the remaining cases on the hope that it can persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that the claims are pre-empted by federal law.

It was unusual for the Court to remark on the grounds for rejecting the petitions. Officials from Bayer have allegedly stated that they disagree with the decision and that there may be further possibilities in the future to appeal Roundup decisions to the Supreme Court, in the hopes that these decisions will put an end to the protracted legal battle.

However, Bayer will be under more pressure to reach agreements to settle the remaining Roundup cancer claims after failing to persuade the court to even examine appeals resulting from the initial trials.

Nearly 100,000 non-Hodgkin lymphoma lawsuits were filed against Bayer and its Monsanto subsidiary at one time, alleging that for years, information and warnings concerning the cancer risk connected with the weed killer were hidden from customers and authorities. However, Bayer agreed to pay billions in Roundup settlements as a result of the decision in the aforementioned case and other claims of a similar nature that proceeded to trial in 2018 and 2019. Nevertheless, it has persisted in pursuing appeals against a number of early judgments, and thousands more claims are still advancing through the legal system as plaintiffs turned down settlement offers.

Bayer declared last year that it intends to eliminate the active chemical glyphosate from Roundup weed killers supplied to residential customers in the United States by 2023 in order to reduce its potential responsibility for Roundup. Although a different active component would be used in the products, one that has not been connected to a risk of non-lymphoma Hodgkin's, which would still carry the Roundup label and continue to be sold. However, according to Bayer representatives, glyphosate will still be utilised in goods marketed to farmers and agricultural enterprises as well as goods sold abroad.

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