Bayer is facing a rise in the number of Roundup lawsuits following a series of court losses. One of the latest allegations was filed on Monday, in Kansas federal court, by Perry L. Walters and his wife Laura against Bayer’s Monsanto.
According to a pretrial order issued on May 21, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria proposed a plan for returning cases back to their home districts for trial, specifying that the parties should be prepared to discuss the process during a case management conference on May 22. He also indicated that he would decide all case-specific summary judgment and Daubert motions that have previously not addressed, so that all the different U.S. District Courts nationwide will only be left with resolving other pretrial motions, including a motion in limine to bifurcate any other challenge to the admissibility of evidence.
Meanwhile, on May 22, a California federal judge appointed former Sept. 11th Victim Compensation Fund special master Kenneth Feinberg to help mediate a deal in multidistrict litigation involving Monsanto's Roundup. Feinberg recently helped Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, auto parts maker Robert Bosch GmbH and consumers with a $307 million settlement, along with an additional $66 million for plaintiffs' attorneys.
Around 13,400 lawsuits are pending in the federal multidistrict litigation (MDL No. 2741; In Re: Roundup Products Liability Litigation) in the Northern District of California which is overlooked by U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria.
