Bayer Wins Missouri Roundup Trial as It Awaits Ruling on Settlement of Up to $7.25 Billion
Key Facts
Bayer’s Monsanto unit won a unanimous verdict in a Missouri trial over the Roundup weedkiller, a legal development as the company awaits a decision on a proposed settlement of up to $7.25 billion. Bayer said the 12-member jury ruled in its favor, adding that the verdict could send a signal to plaintiffs who continue to litigate. Bayer shares rose 3.7% on October 30 after the verdict, according to Investing.com. The case separates the individual-trial track from the class settlement track, as the three plaintiffs were not participants in the proposed settlement. The verdict does not resolve the broader Roundup litigation, with Bayer facing about 65,000 claims in state and federal courts across the United States.
Theresa Aretino, Cynthia Fernandez and Betty Larkin sued Monsanto in St. Louis in 2020, saying they regularly used Roundup and later developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma, according to Reuters. Their claims included product-design defects and negligence, while Reuters reported that one plaintiff died before the trial. After deliberating for about two hours, jurors returned a unanimous verdict for Monsanto on all three plaintiffs’ claims, according to Investing.com. Bayer’s U.S. general counsel, Bill Dodero, said the verdict indicates that plaintiffs will face significant challenges in establishing the validity of their claims and presenting the necessary evidence. He added that these challenges follow the Durnell ruling, which redrew the scope of claims that can proceed in court.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June 2026, by a 7-2 vote, that federal law governing pesticides preempts state-level failure-to-warn claims in this context, while leaving room for other types of claims, according to the Associated Press. Reuters described the Missouri trial as a test of whether Roundup claims can continue after the Supreme Court ruling narrowed the legal grounds available to plaintiffs. The current case therefore focuses on design and negligence claims, not the failure-to-warn claim addressed by the Supreme Court. Dodero said plaintiffs seeking to pursue their cases will need to prove they have viable claims and support them with evidence in court. The outcome of one trial remains a limited legal indicator within a broader dispute involving tens of thousands of claims.
Bayer is seeking to resolve a large portion of the lawsuits through a proposed class settlement that remains under review by a judge in Missouri state court in St. Louis, according to Reuters. The proposal calls for capped annual payments that decline over time, totaling up to $7.25 billion over as long as 21 years, subject to court approval, according to Bayer. Monsanto’s unit asked the judge at a September 14 hearing to approve the settlement, saying it saw no other way to resolve litigation that has weighed on the company for years. Chief Executive Bill Anderson said Bayer expects a decision on the settlement before Christmas, adding: "A decision could come any week now." Approval of the settlement remains separate from the jury’s verdict in the individual case, and the court will decide on it.
The financial figures show the litigation’s impact on liquidity alongside efforts to reach a settlement. Bayer posted free cash flow of negative 293 million euros in the third quarter of 2026, compared with positive 596 million euros in the same period of 2025. The company attributed the decline in part to higher expected payments to settle legal proceedings. In February 2026, Bayer had estimated total litigation payments of about 5 billion euros during the year and said it expected negative free cash flow for the year. That places the pending court decision on the settlement in a broader financial context, as the company manages outstanding claims and expected legal payments during the year.