Wisner Baum is no longer accepting new Roundup cases.
However, our firm played a central role in the litigation that led to these historic resolutions — serving as co-lead trial counsel in two of the first three trials against Monsanto and helping negotiate Roundup settlement agreements totaling over $10.9 billion.
On June 24, 2020, Bayer (acquired Monsanto in 2018) announced a settlement resolving the majority of pending Roundup cancer claims. The agreement was valued at approximately $10.9 billion and resolved roughly 125,000 cases in which plaintiffs alleged that long-term exposure to Roundup's active ingredient, glyphosate, caused them to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).
The 2020 settlement came after three consecutive plaintiff victories in Roundup cancer trials — including the landmark $289.2 million Johnson verdict and the $2.055 billion Pilliod verdict, both of which Wisner Baum helped win. Facing mounting losses and an estimated 125,000+ pending claims, Bayer moved toward a comprehensive resolution.
Wisner Baum issued the following statement at the time of the 2020 Roundup settlement announcement:
“Wisner Baum is pleased with the settlement. It is a big first step in correcting the forty years of harm caused by glyphosate. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is devastating. Over the last four years, as we have pressed this litigation forward despite innumerable obstacles, we have had tremendous success in a few important cases. But, those successes have been tempered with the fact that many of our clients continue to suffer from the consequences of cancer. This settlement is for everyone and should help our clients rebuild and move forward in a meaningful way… this is an important and historic day in the fight to protect consumers from harmful pesticides.”
The 2020 settlement did not end the Roundup litigation. Tens of thousands of claimants were not covered by the agreement, and new cases continued to be filed in both federal and state courts.
Over the last few years, juries have delivered a series of significant verdicts against Bayer, including a $2.065 billion verdict in Barnes v. Monsanto (2025), a $2.25 billion verdict in McKivison v. Monsanto (2024, later reduced to $400 million), and a $1.56 billion verdict in Anderson et al. v. Monsanto (2023, later reduced to $611 million). By early 2026, Bayer estimated approximately 67,000 Roundup claims remained pending.
On February 17, 2026, Bayer announced its most significant resolution effort since 2020: a proposed $7.25 billion class-action settlement, filed in St. Louis Circuit Court in Missouri, designed to resolve both current and future Roundup cancer claims.
Unlike the 2020 settlement, this new proposal is specifically structured to address future claimants — people who have already been exposed to Roundup but may not yet have a cancer diagnosis. The fund would remain active for up to 21 years, with Bayer making declining, capped annual payments over that period.
Separately, Bayer announced confidential settlements resolving additional individual Roundup cases, with reports indicating those agreements total at least $3 billion. Combined, the total resolution effort amounts to approximately $10.5 billion.
The proposed Bayer class settlement is subject to court approval and is not yet final. Bayer does not admit liability per the terms of the agreement. Claimants will have the option to opt out and pursue individual lawsuits, though Bayer retains the right to withdraw from the settlement if the number of opt-outs is deemed excessive.
Wisner Baum helped build the evidentiary and legal foundation that made the Monsanto settlements possible. Our attorneys served as co-lead trial counsel in Johnson v. Monsanto (2018) and Pilliod v. Monsanto (2019), winning a combined $2.3+ billion in jury verdicts that exposed Monsanto's decades of concealment and brought the dangers of Roundup to the world's attention. Our firm also played a key role in negotiating the 2020 settlement.
While we are no longer accepting new Roundup cases, we remain committed to transparency and accountability in the ongoing fight against corporate misconduct involving pesticides and toxic chemicals.
Our toxic tort attorneys are currently evaluating atrazine lawsuits alleging non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and paraquat lawsuits alleging Parkinson’s. Contact us to learn more about these and other ongoing torts.
"Wisner Baum gave exceptional attention to all aspects of the case, detailed inquiry, and tenacious overview of all the information submitted. The paralegals are efficient and diligent. I was completely surprised to find an empathic personal message to take care of my own health during the challenging time of being a full-time caretaker.*"
In May of 2019, the jury in the case of Pilliod et al. v, Monsanto Company ordered the agrochemical giant to pay $2.055 billion in damages to the plaintiffs, Alva and Alberta Pilliod, a Bay Area couple in their 70s. R. Brent Wisner served as co-lead trial attorney for the Pilliods, delivering the opening and closing statements and cross-examining several of Monsanto’s experts. Wisner Baum managing shareholder, Michael Baum and attorney Pedram Esfandiary also served on the trial team in the Pilliod case.
The judge later reduced their award to $87M. Monsanto appealed the Pilliod’s verdict which the California Court of Appeal for the First Appellate District denied on August 9, 2021. Monsanto then requested the California Supreme Court review the appeal’s court decision, which the court denied on Nov. 17, 2021. Monsanto (Bayer) then submitted a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court which SCOTUS denied on June 27, 2022, allowing the final judgment of $87M to remain intact.
$289.2 million jury verdict in Monsanto Roundup trial
Wisner Baum co-represented Dewayne “Lee” Johnson in the first Roundup cancer lawsuit to proceed to trial. On Aug. 10, 2018, a San Francisco jury ordered Monsanto to pay $39.25 million in compensatory damages and $250 million in punitive damages to Mr. Johnson, a former groundskeeper who alleged exposure to Monsanto’s herbicides caused him to develop terminal non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Months after the jury verdict, the judge overseeing the trial reduced the punitive damages to $39.25 million. Mr. Johnson decided to accept the remittitur, bringing the adjusted amount awarded to Mr. Johnson $78.5 million.
Monsanto (Bayer) appealed the verdict and Johnson cross appealed. On July 20, 2020, the First Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the verdict against Monsanto but reduced Mr. Johnson’s award to $20.5 million. The company chose not to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, ending the litigation.
In 2016, Wisner Baum attorney Timothy A. Loranger and six other attorneys in the Plaintiffs’ Management Committee were able to secure a $265 million settlement for victims of the 2015 Amtrak 188 derailment in Philadelphia, one of the largest in the U.S. for 2016.
