U.S. Supreme Court decision to review Bayer’s Durnell case in the Roundup litigation

The U.S. Supreme Court has recently announced that they will review the Durnell Roundup case. Monsanto petitioned the court to hear Durnell in April 2025 and address the split in authority among federal circuit courts on the application of federal preemption, a cross-cutting issue in the Roundup litigation.

“The Supreme Court decision to take the case is good news for U.S. farmers, who need regulatory clarity,” said Bayer CEO Bill Anderson. “It’s also an important step in our multi-pronged strategy to significantly contain this litigation. It is time for the U.S. legal system to establish that companies should not be punished under state laws for complying with federal warning label requirements.” Every leading regulator worldwide has concluded that glyphosate-based herbicides can be used safely.

Note that the Supreme Court previously called for the views of the Solicitor General, who submitted a brief in December on behalf of the United States Government agreeing with the company that the Court should hear the case, resolve the circuit split and rule in the company’s favor.

Solicitor General John Sauer argued that upholding the Durnell decision would allow juries to ignore the expert scientific decisions made by the U.S. EPA regarding the safety of glyphosate, saying, “EPA has repeatedly determined that glyphosate is not likely to be carcinogenic in humans, and the agency has repeatedly approved Roundup labels that did not contain cancer warnings….This Court’s intervention is warranted to give FIFRA’s preemption provision its proper force.”

He also warned of the consequences of upholding Durnell, citing a prior Supreme Court holding: writing “where, as here, EPA has specified the health warnings that should appear on a particular pesticide’s label, a manufacturer should not be left subject to ‘50 different labeling regimes prescribing’ different requirements.”

The company has stated that they have argued a split among federal circuit courts in the Roundup litigation warrants review and resolution by the country’s top court. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously held in Schaffner that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act expressly preempts the plaintiff’s claims which were based on state failure-to-warn theories like those in Durnell.

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