The Judge Presiding Over the Roundup Products Liability Litigation in California Enters Order Denying Motion For Preliminary Approval of Roundup Class Action Settlement.
On May 26, 2021, a United States District Court Judge in San Francisco, California assigned to the Roundup class action lawsuit (Ramirez, et al. v. Monsanto Co. Case No. 3:19-cv-02224, In re: Roundup Products Liability Litigation) denied the plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary approval of a proposed class action settlement.
According to the order denying the motion for preliminary approval of the Roundup class action settlement, the proposed settlement covered two groups of people who used Roundup: (1) Roundup users who were diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma or NHL but who had not yet sued and had not yet hired a lawyer to sue; and (2) Roundup users who used Roundup before February 2021 but who had not been diagnosed with Non Hodgkin Lymphoma.
Court Finds Roundup Class Action Lawsuit Settlement Not Reasonable For Roundup Users Who Have Not Been Diagnosed With Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.
The Court reportedly did not evaluate whether or not the roundup settlement was reasonable with respect to the first group of Roundup users since it found that the settlement was unreasonable vis-a-vis the second group of Roundup users. The Court found that the settlement benefits for this second group of people who used Roundup (a four year medical monitoring program and a four year compensation fund) were outweighed by the costs to these proposed Roundup class members if the settlement were approved (i.e., they would lose the right to seek punitive damages and would be required to stipulate to the admission of the opinion of a seven-member science panel about whether Roundup can cause Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.)
The Court apparently left open the possibility that a new settlement could be reached, stating that “If a settlement that reasonably protects the interests of Roundup users who have not been diagnosed with NHL can be reached, that agreement must be presented on a new motion for preliminary approval.”
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