Today, the U.S. Supreme Court asked for the views of the Solicitor General in the Durnell case. This comes after a petition for a writ of certiorari was filed by Bayer’s indirect subsidiary Monsanto in April 2025 arguing that Roundup litigation decisions have been split by federal circuit courts and a Supreme Court decision is needed.
This news of the court’s action has Bayer expecting a decision by the Court—first if it accepts the case, then on a ruling—in the 2025-2026 session. The company says it expects the decision by the Court on whether or not to hear the case in the fall 2025. And then if picked up by the court, its decision would be announced by June 2026.
“We see this request as an encouraging step and look forward to hearing the views of the government on FIFRA’s federal preemption provision, which relies on language common to several federal laws that cover a number of industries,” said Bayer CEO Bill Anderson in a news release. “The security and affordability of the food supply depend on companies’ and farmers’ ability to rely on decisions made by responsible federal regulatory authorities. When courts permit companies to be punished under state law for following federal law, it makes companies like ours a prime target of the litigation industry and threatens farmers and innovations that patients and consumers need for their nutrition and health.”
In the meantime, the company says it will continue it’s “multipronged” strategy around glyphosate litigation. [Read more about that strategy here.]
To-date Bayer has paid more than $10 billion to plaintiffs in litigation claiming Roundup as the cause of their cancer. Bill Anderson became CEO in 2023, and one of his commitments was to get the glyphosate litigation “under control” by 2026. In total, there have been about 180,000 lawsuits brought forward, with about 65,000 cases open now. The company says it has received favorable outcomes in 17 of the last 25 trials.
The federal courts with the split decisions resulted from the 3rd, 9th and 11th circuits.
