The New Lede | Carrey Gillam | February 17, 2026
In a bold bid to put costly US Roundup litigation behind it, Bayer on Tuesday announced a $7.25 billionproposed class action settlement for users of its glyphosate-based weed killing products who have cancer now or develop cancer in the next several years, with average awards ranging from $10,000 to $165,000.
Such a settlement would include people currently suing the company and Roundup users who have not yet sued the company but may want to do so in the future. Tens of thousands of people have sued the company alleging exposure to the weed killers caused them to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).
Bayer said the potential to get agreement on a class action settlement plan now was boosted by the decision by the US Supreme Court to agree to hear Bayer’s arguments that it should not be subject to lawsuits by people claiming the company failed to warn them of cancer risks associated with glyphosate herbicides if federal regulators didn’t require such a warning.
Bayer CEO Bill Anderson said in a media and investor briefing that the potential for a Supreme Court ruling favoring Bayer is an “important incentive for people to participate in the class”.
“The proposed class settlement agreement, together with the Supreme Court case, provides an essential path out of the litigation uncertainty and enables us to devote our full attention to furthering the innovations that lie at the core of our mission: Health for all, Hunger for none,” Anderson said in a statement. “The class settlement and Supreme Court case are both necessary to help bring the strongest, most certain and most timely containment to this litigation.”
Anderson said the company blames a “broken” system that has allowed for the costly litigation, and said that “glyphosate is a safe and essential tool for farmers in the US and around the world.”
Terms of the deal
The proposed settlement covers people who know they were exposed to a Roundup product because they themselves purchased or applied the Roundup products, according to the court filing laying out the details. Compensation will be tiered and awarded based on the nature and extent of a class member’s exposure, age at the time of NHL diagnosis, and type of NHL. No other cancers are included, only NHL.
According to the proposed settlement, an occupational user of the company’s glyphosate herbicides diagnosed with an aggressive type of NHL younger than 60 years old could see a payout of $165,000 on average. Individual awards could vary from the average from 80% to 120%, according to court filings. The company is also proposing much smaller awards through a “Quick-Pay” program for certain cases.
The company requires that the “vast majority” of plaintiffs participate in the settlement in order to go forward, said Anderson. The company will make up-front and annual payments into a settlement fund for 17-21 years, according to the settlement terms.
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