Legal fight could delay a proposed $7B settlement for lawsuits in
Roundup cancer claims
[May 23, 2026]
By DAVID A. LIEB
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Delays could be in store for a proposed $7.25
billion settlement covering thousands of claims that the maker of
Roundup weedkiller failed to warn people the product could cause cancer.
An attorney opposed to the settlement filed paperwork Friday to move the
case to federal court instead of a Missouri court, where people face a
June 4 deadline to opt out of the settlement. The dispute about who
should preside over the proposed settlement could disrupt its deadlines
and delay a resolution about whether it should be approved.
The legal wrangling over the settlement is playing out as the U.S.
Supreme Court weighs a case that could block thousands of lawsuits filed
in state courts against agrochemical-maker Bayer, which added Roundup to
its portfolio when it acquired Missouri-based Monsanto in 2018. Bayer
contends the state-level claims that it failed to warn of cancer risks
should be forbidden because it followed federal labeling standards that
don't require a warning.
Germany-based Bayer also disputes the assertion that Roundup’s key
ingredient, glyphosate, can cause non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
The Environmental Protection Agency has determined that it’s not likely
to be carcinogenic to humans when used as directed. But plaintiffs point
to a 2015 decision by the World Health Organization’s International
Agency for Research on Cancer, which classified the chemical as
“probably carcinogenic.”
The case before the Supreme Court was filed on behalf John Durnell, who
says he developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma after more than 20 years of
spraying Roundup on a community garden in St. Louis. Durnell is not
covered by the proposed class-action settlement. But his attorney,
Ashley Keller, filed objections opting out of the settlement on behalf
of several other clients before also filing a document to shift the
settlement case to federal court.
“This is a huge settlement that is extinguishing the rights of tens of
thousands of cancer victims," Keller said Friday. “It was rushed in to
state court.”
The move to federal court is sure to face opposition.
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The Bayer logo shines at night at the main chemical plant of German
Bayer AG on Aug. 9, 2019, in Leverkusen, Germany. (AP Photo/Martin
Meissner, File)
 Attorney Christopher Seeger, who is
proposed as a claimants’ representative in the settlement, denounced
the court shift as “a baseless delay tactic that should be promptly
denied.”
A statement from Bayer said the move “has no merit,” and it would
work to keep the proceedings in state court.
The proposed nationwide settlement was filed in February in St.
Louis Circuit Court in Missouri. It's designed to address most
pending Roundup lawsuits, as well as any additional cases brought in
the coming years by people who were exposed to Roundup. But if too
many claimants opt out, Bayer reserves the right to cancel it.
A hearing on the settlement is scheduled for July 9 in state court.
The Supreme Court, meanwhile, is expected to issue a decision in
Durnell’s case by the end of June.
The proposed settlement calls for Bayer to make annual payments into
a special fund for up to 21 years, totaling as much as $7.25
billion. The amount of money paid out to individuals would vary
depending on how they used Roundup, how old they were when diagnosed
and the severity of their non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
An agricultural, industrial or turf worker exposed at length to
Roundup would receive an average of $165,000 if they were diagnosed
with an aggressive form of the illness while younger than age 60,
according to the proposed settlement. But those diagnosed at age 78
or older would get an average of $10,000.
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