Bloomberg writer Joel Rosenblatt reported today that, “Bayer AG settled thousands more U.S. lawsuits over its Roundup weed killer after criticism that the company was failing to uphold an $11 billion deal it announced in June to resolve the massive litigation.
“The agreements, revealed in a court filing late Monday, are with lawyers representing consumers who argue Roundup caused their cancer. The settlements mark a significant step forward after the lawyers said two weeks ago that Bayer was backing out of their agreements. The judge handling all the cases filed in U.S. federal court expressed surprise in an Aug. 28 hearing at how little progress the company had made.
“The latest settlements resolve about 15,000 U.S. lawsuits, according to lawyers familiar with the deals. Added to the approximately 32,000 settlements previously disclosed by Ken Feinberg, the mediator overseeing the process, Bayer has resolved at least 47,000 of the suits. The company has said it faces about 125,000 filed and unfiled Roundup claims. The value of the settlements wasn’t disclosed.”
Today’s article added that, “Bayer last week extended the contract of Chief Executive Officer Werner Baumann, in a sign of continuity as the German company works its way through the thicket of lawsuits. The company said at the time it was making progress with plaintiff attorneys.”
