Bayer has reached verbal agreements to settle tens of thousands of lawsuits filed by people claiming they contracted cancer after using its weedkiller, according to news reports.
But a number of plaintiff lawyers are still holding out and refusing to accept a purported $10 billion deal that would see the company settling with as many as 85,000 plaintiffs, according to Bloomberg News.
Among the lawyers unhappy with the proposed settlement is St. Louis attorney James Onder, who reportedly represents as many as 24,000 plaintiffs who believe their use of Roundup led to their cancer, mainly non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.
Bayer, which took over Monsanto in a more than $60 billion deal in 2018, has faced turmoil on the stock market and pressure from share holders to settle the claims, which could total as many 125,000.
Onder told Bloomberg that the settlement offers would "leave his clients with with as little as $5,000 each."
He described Bayer's position as "insulting" and claimed the company is trying “to strong-arm the most vulnerable in our society into accepting minuscule settlements, hoping they will cower in fear to Monsanto’s repeated idle threats of bankruptcy.”
The attorney is continuing preparation for trials in St. Louis next year.
In an email to the St. Louis Business Journal, a Bayer spokesperson said: “We’ve made progress in the Roundup mediation discussions under the auspices of Ken Feinberg, but in keeping with the confidentiality of this process, the company will not speculate about settlement outcomes or timing.
"As we have said previously, the company will consider a resolution if it is financially reasonable and provides a process to resolve potential future litigation.”
The reports suggest a deal, which involves $8 billion to settle outstanding claims, $2 billion for future ones, may be signed in June. Under the deal, Bayer will continue to sell Roundup without any safety warning while the attorneys will agree to take no new cases or advertise for clients.
Feinberg, who is overseeing the settlement negotiations, said he remains “cautiously optimistic a national settlement will be reached.” Fallout from Covid-19 “slowed momentum," he added.