Tens of thousands of US plaintiffs allege that glyphosate-based Roundup causes non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Bayer, which inherited the litigation through its $63B Monsanto acquisition, has committed more than $18B to resolving it, and in 2026 secured a Supreme Court preemption win and preliminary approval of a proposed $7.25B class settlement, whose final-approval hearing before Judge Timothy Boyer in St. Louis is set for September 14, 2026, that could finally cap the decade-old litigation.
LATEST DEVELOPMENT · SEP 14, 2026
On August 27, 2026, the Eighth Circuit dismissed the objecting class members’ appeal of the June 17 order remanding King v. Monsanto to Missouri state court, clearing the way for the final fairness hearing on the proposed $7.25B nationwide NHL class settlement, which the Missouri Circuit Court in St. Louis (Judge Timothy Boyer) had moved from August 19 to September 14, 2026 while extending the opt-out deadline to August 21. Objectors led by Ashley Keller say they will continue to fight approval in state court.
BACKGROUND
The litigation exploded after IARC classified glyphosate as ‘probably carcinogenic’ in 2015. A string of nine-figure and ten-figure jury verdicts, Johnson ($289M, 2018), Hardeman, and Pilliod ($2B, 2019), pushed Bayer into a roughly $10.9B settlement framework in 2020, but tens of thousands of claims were never resolved and new cases continue to be filed.
Bayer’s core legal strategy is federal preemption: that FIFRA’s federal labeling regime bars state-law failure-to-warn claims. The Third Circuit accepted a version of that argument in 2024, deepening a circuit split, and in June 2026 the Supreme Court resolved the question in Monsanto’s favor in Monsanto v. Durnell, even as juries continued to deliver eye-watering verdicts, including $2.1B in Georgia in March 2025. A $7.25B nationwide class settlement announced in February 2026 awaits final approval.
TIMELINE
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SEP 14, 2026HEARINGMissouri court holds final fairness hearing on $7.25B Roundup class settlementJudge Timothy Boyer of the Circuit Court for the City of St. Louis held the final fairness hearing on Monsanto’s proposed $7.25B nationwide NHL class settlement. Monsanto urged approval as the best path to resolve the litigation, while objecting plaintiffs’ lawyers continued to challenge the deal’s fairness. Boyer did not issue an immediate ruling.Bayer Faces Test of $7.25B Roundup Settlement In Missouri CourtJudge to Begin Consideration of Bayer's $7.25 Billion Roundup SettlementJudge weighs "fairness" of $7.25 billion Roundup settlement for cancer victimsBayer urges court to approve $7.25 billion Monsanto Roundup settlement that could limit its future liabilities
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AUG 27, 2026APPEALEighth Circuit dismisses objectors’ appeal of remand orderThe Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the objecting class members’ appeal challenging the remand of the $7.25B Roundup class settlement to Missouri state court, denying a supplemental petition for permission to appeal and mooting motions to dismiss, stay, and hold briefing in abeyance. The objectors had argued the settlement should be handled by the federal MDL judge rather than a Missouri state court.
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AUG 6, 2026PROCEDURALMissouri court reschedules fairness hearing to September 14, 2026The Missouri Circuit Court overseeing the Roundup class settlement granted a joint motion by Monsanto and class counsel to move the final approval hearing from August 19 to September 14, 2026, and extended the opt-out deadline to August 21, 2026, to process opt-out revocation requests.
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JUL 1, 2026OTHERBayer consolidates U.S. glyphosate business into new entity Ruveon LLCBayer announced it is restructuring its U.S. glyphosate business, including Roundup, into a new St. Louis-based subsidiary called Ruveon LLC, led by CEO Alfonso Alba Ordonez, as part of its broader response to the Roundup litigation landscape following the Supreme Court’s Durnell ruling.
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JUN 30, 2026PROCEDURALMissouri court reschedules Roundup class settlement fairness hearing to August 19, 2026Judge Boyer of the Missouri Circuit Court moved the final approval hearing for Bayer’s $7.25B nationwide NHL class settlement from its original July 9, 2026 date to August 19, 2026, while keeping the June 2026 opt-out deadline unchanged.
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JUN 25, 2026JUDGMENTSupreme Court holds FIFRA preempts Roundup failure-to-warn claims (7-2)Justice Kavanaugh’s majority in Monsanto v. Durnell reversed a Missouri failure-to-warn judgment. Justice Jackson, joined by Justice Gorsuch, dissented. Design-defect, negligence and other non-label theories survive.
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JUN 2026APPEALObjecting class members appeal remand order to Eighth CircuitAfter a federal judge remanded the class settlement dispute (King v. Monsanto) back to Missouri state court on June 17, 2026, the objecting plaintiffs appealed that remand decision to the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
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MAR 4, 2026PROCEDURALMissouri court grants preliminary approval of the class settlementOpt-out deadline June 4, 2026. Objectors briefly removed the case to federal court. It was remanded to Missouri state court in June 2026, with final approval proceedings continuing.
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FEB 17, 2026SETTLEMENTMonsanto announces $7.25B nationwide class settlementDesigned to resolve current and future non-Hodgkin lymphoma claims through a long-term claims program funded over up to 21 years, with individual payouts reported at roughly $6,000–$165,000.
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JAN 16, 2026APPEALUS Supreme Court grants certiorari in Monsanto v. DurnellQuestion presented: whether FIFRA preempts a label-based failure-to-warn claim where EPA has not required the warning. Argued April 27, 2026.
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SEP 30, 2025APPEALMissouri Supreme Court declines review of reduced $611M Cole County judgmentThe October 2023 $1.56B verdict for four plaintiffs, cut to $611M and affirmed by the Western District Court of Appeals in May 2025, became final, worth over $700M with interest.
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MAR 21, 2025JUDGMENTGeorgia jury awards $2.1B in Barnes v. Monsanto$65M compensatory plus $2B punitive after a three-week trial in Cobb County State Court. Monsanto vowed to appeal.
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AUG 15, 2024APPEALThird Circuit rules for Monsanto on FIFRA preemption (Schaffner)Created a deeper circuit split on whether federal law preempts state failure-to-warn claims.
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JUN 21, 2022APPEALUS Supreme Court declines to hear Hardeman preemption appeal
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JUN 24, 2020SETTLEMENTBayer announces ~$10.9B settlement framework
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MAY 13, 2019JUDGMENTPilliod verdict: $2B (later reduced)
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AUG 10, 2018JUDGMENTJohnson v. Monsanto: first trial ends in $289M verdictLater reduced, but it opened the floodgates.