Announced today, Bayer’s subsidiary Monsanto has reached a class settlement deal—pending court approval—to reach the company’s goal of containing glyphosate litigation.
The deal includes $7.25 billion over 21 years for current and future glyphosate cases.
Almost two years ago, then-new CEO Bill Anderson said it was his goal to have the legal liabilities “under control” by 2026, which had weighed on Bayer. Company leaders said the settlement provides the greatest possible closure for the Roundup litigation by addressing all present and potential claims of non-Hodgkin-lymphoma (NHL) allegedly due to Roundup exposure.
In his statement today, Anderson said the company is “choosing speed and containment over a lengthy battle in the courts.”
“Today’s announcement does not take away from the truth, a truth that scientists and regulators around the planet continue to uphold: that glyphosate is a safe and essential tool for farmers in the U.S. and around the world,” Anderson said.
He continued, “This settlement comes at a cost, even beyond its direct monetary price. It has cost employees their jobs. It’s diverted funding away from new medicines and new seeds and towards litigation, an industry that costs the average U.S. household more than four thousand dollars every year. So, while this settlement is necessary for the company today, we maintain our significant objections to the broken tort system that makes it necessary.”
The settlement is filed in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis, Missouri. The class includes people who allege Roundup exposure before Feb. 17, 2026 and who already have NHL or are diagnosed within 16 years after final court approval.
“With more than 40,000 Roundup personal injury non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma claims already in court or under tolling agreements, new filings arriving daily, a pending Supreme Court petition that could restrict plaintiffs’ recovery rights, and crowded dockets offering limited trial dates, Motley Rice began negotiating with other proposed class counsel to reach a settlement with Monsanto,” said Motley Rice co-founder and settlement negotiator, Joseph F. Rice. “I believe this $7.25 billion proposed national class settlement reached in Missouri state court is the best path forward to finally bring the Roundup® litigation to a closing chapter. Based on the hard work of class counsel and Monsanto’s counsel, both occupational and residential exposures will be covered, the rights of future claimants have been uniquely protected, and payments should begin in 2026.”
Six years ago, Bayer proposed a class settlement which did not move forward. That proposal was limited to four years of funding and future litigation beyond those four years required an expert science panel for determination of qualifications.
Beyond the class proposal, Bayer says it has reached separate confidential agreements to settle certain other Roundup cases.
Today’s news comes one month after the Supreme Court agreed to hear one of the cases, referred to as a the Durnell case, which calls into question federal preemption of pesticide labels.
