Federal Judge Sends $7.25B Roundup Settlement Back to Missouri Court

A federal judge on Wednesday returned Bayer’s proposed $7.25 billion settlement of Roundup lawsuits to Missouri state court, overruling the objections of some cancer victims who said the state court could not bind a nationwide class of people who allege that the popular weedkiller caused their cancer.

U.S District Judge Henry Edward Autrey granted a motion by Bayer, concluding that the objecting plaintiffs did not have the power to transfer the case to federal court. Only Bayer, the defendant, could move the case out of the court where it was filed.

Related: Federal Judge Has ‘Grave Concerns’ About Missouri Roundup Deal

The settlement, proposed in February, seeks to resolve nearly all lawsuits alleging that the company’s widely used weedkiller Roundup causes cancer, through a new class action filed in Missouri state court. The objecting cancer victims transferred the new class action to federal court on May 22, disrupting the fast-track schedule pursued by Bayer and plaintiffs’ attorneys who support the settlement.

(Reporting by Knauth)