Bayer Wins Missouri Roundup Trial as Cancer Lawsuits Continue
Key Facts
Bayer won a Missouri trial on Thursday, October 29, after a St. Louis jury unanimously ruled in favor of its Monsanto unit in a lawsuit brought by 3 women over Roundup herbicide. The verdict marks the first case of its kind to reach trial since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June, which limited a key legal avenue in cancer lawsuits linked to the product. Reuters, in a report carried by MarketScreener, said the plaintiffs claimed they developed cancer after using the herbicide. Alongside the win, Bayer is awaiting a separate decision on a proposed class settlement that still requires final court approval. The Missouri verdict therefore does not resolve the settlement’s fate or the other claims filed against the company.
The plaintiffs are Theresa Aritono, Cynthia Fernandez and Betty Larkin, who filed suit against Monsanto’s unit in 2020 in St. Louis. They said they regularly used Roundup and later developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma, while Fernandez died before the trial began. Their arguments focused on claims that the herbicide was defectively designed and unreasonably dangerous, and that Bayer was negligent in selling it. This differed from failure-to-warn lawsuits, which argue that the product label did not warn of cancer risks. The distinction gave the case particular importance after the Supreme Court ruling restricted claims based on a failure to warn on the label.
On June 25, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Monsanto’s favor in the Durnell case, according to Bayer, limiting claims that Roundup’s label failed to warn of cancer risks. But the design-defect and negligence claims raised in the Missouri trial remained before the jury. Reuters described the case as the first trial test following the June ruling. The difference in legal grounds means the earlier Supreme Court decision did not prevent the current lawsuit from being heard. A win in this case also does not constitute a general ruling on the other cases facing the company.
Bayer says studies and regulatory reviews support the safety of its glyphosate-based products and reject a link to cancer. The company also says its litigation management measures do not amount to an admission of legal liability or wrongdoing. In February 2026, Monsanto announced a class settlement plan funded with up to $7.25 billion, including declining annual payments capped for up to 21 years. The plan remains subject to court approval, and a Missouri court held a hearing on it on September 14. Bayer said the court would later decide whether to grant final approval, without announcing a specific date for the decision.
Bayer faces about 65,000 claims in U.S. courts from people who say they developed cancer after using Roundup, according to a Reuters report in September. A previous settlement in 2020, worth about $10 billion, resolved many of the claims then pending but left the company exposed to future claims. In 2025, a Georgia jury awarded plaintiff John Barnes $2.1 billion, including $2 billion in punitive damages and $65 million in damages, and Bayer said it would appeal the ruling. The company also raised its total litigation liabilities and provisions from 7.8 billion euros to 11.8 billion euros when it announced the settlement in February 2026. These cases show how the impact of Roundup litigation continues to weigh on the company despite settlements and individual verdicts.
In trading, Bayer shares listed under the ticker BAYRY closed at $13.37 on October 29, compared with a close of $12.80 on October 28. The share move came on the day the verdict was issued, but closing data alone does not determine its impact on trading. The next decision directly tied to the Roundup case remains the Missouri court’s ruling on final approval of the class settlement. The hearing on the plan was held on September 14, with Bayer setting no later date for the decision. Meanwhile, the cancer claims being heard remain separate from the proposed settlement process.