"In a bold bid to put costly US Roundup litigation behind it, Bayer on Tuesday announced a $7.25 billion proposed class action settlement for users of its glyphosate-based weed killing products who have cancer now or develop cancer in the next several years, with average awards ranging from $10,000 to $165,000.
Such a settlement would include people currently suing the company and Roundup users who have not yet sued the company but may want to do so in the future. Tens of thousands of people have sued the company alleging exposure to the weed killers caused them to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).
Bayer said the potential to get agreement on a class action settlement plan now was boosted by the decision by the US Supreme Court to agree to hear Bayer’s arguments that it should not be subject to lawsuits by people claiming the company failed to warn them of cancer risks associated with glyphosate herbicides if federal regulators didn’t require such a warning.
Bayer CEO Bill Anderson said in a media and investor briefing that the potential for a Supreme Court ruling favoring Bayer is an “important incentive for people to participate in the class”."
