Judge OKs refunds for purchasers in Roundup lawsuit
Buyers of Roundup herbicide products would be eligible for 20% refunds under a proposed nationwide settlement, tentatively approved by a federal judge, of a suit accusing Monsanto Co. of false advertising for failing to warn customers the product could cause cancer.
The settlement is separate from the tens of thousands of lawsuits filed against Monsanto and its parent company, Bayer, by people diagnosed with cancer after spraying Roundup, the world’s most widely used weed killer, on their crops. Bay Area juries have awarded damages totaling nearly $133 million in three of those cases, and on Tuesday the Supreme Court denied review of Monsanto’s appeal of a $25.2 million award to one of those plaintiffs, a former school groundskeeper in Benicia.
U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria of San Francisco, who gave preliminary approval to the settlement Tuesday, emphasized that it does not affect a customer’s right to sue for any illness or other harm caused by the herbicide.
The companies agreed to the settlement but continue to describe their product as perfectly safe, citing its 1991 approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. But the International Agency for Research on Cancer, an arm of the World Health Organization, classified the herbicide’s main ingredient, glyphosate, as a probable cause of human cancer in 2015. And the EPA has now offered to allow California to place cancer warning labels on Roundup sold in the state, as long as the labels also mention the EPA’s own safety assessment.
Bayer says it will pay more than $10 billion to settle pending cancer suits. The company also says it will replace glyphosate with another active ingredient for U.S. home and garden sales of Roundup, starting next year, while continuing to sell the current product for agricultural use.
The settlement would allow 20% refunds for those who bought any of 19 Roundup products during a period determined by the statute of limitations in their state. For Californians, that would be one product per year for the past five years if they no longer have a receipt or other proof of purchase, and more products if they have such documentation, said Gillian Wade, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. Individual product refunds would range from 50 cents to $33, depending on the amounts purchased.
Bayer agreed to pay between $23 million and $45 million, depending on the number of claims, Wade said. Of that amount, up to 25% would go to attorneys for legal fees and costs and the rest to customer refunds. Chhabria is scheduled to decide on final approval next January.
“We’re proud of the settlement and looking forward to final approval and getting customers refunds,” Wade said.
Susan Luke, a spokesperson for Bayer, said the company was also pleased with the settlement, “which provides significant and immediate benefits” to the customers.