National Civil Rights and Personal Injury Attorney Ben Crump Says Roundup Weedkiller Settlement is Bad Deal for Victims, Pledges to Fight On
Crump says Bayer-Monsanto taking advantage of COVID exhaustion, economic strain to push inadequate settlements on the most vulnerable workers
Nationally renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump has joined with the OnderLaw legal team in rejecting the highly touted settlement announced yesterday by Bayer-Monsanto on behalf of the 25,000 Crump/Onder clients who have developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma after use of the weedkiller Roundup.
Attorney Crump is widely known for his representation of the family of George Floyd, but he has also served as a champion for children poisoned by lead in the Flint, Michigan water supply, and African American and Hispanic women who suffered ovarian cancer from the use of talcum powder.
“This cynical settlement offer is preying on the toll that COVID and economic pressures have placed on some of our most essential and vulnerable workers — people who are responsible for America’s food supply — to accept pennies on the dollar,” Crump said. “These workers are battling for their lives, and we will fight on to ensure they are properly compensated.”
St. Louis Attorney James Onder, who represents the largest number of unsettled cases, said, despite Bayer-Monsanto’s announcement yesterday, about 25% of cases remain unsettled, representing tens of billions of dollars in legal exposure. The cost to resolve the Onder/Crump cases alone could easily exceed the entire $9.6 billion Bayer has allocated for resolution of the entire litigation.
Many of the plaintiffs represented by Crump and the legal team are essential, frontline workers, including farmworkers and landscapers, who suffered exposure to the product as a necessary part of doing their jobs. “They put their lives on the line each day, exposed to the dangerous weedkiller Roundup so that our families might be fed. Now, when they develop cancer and need help the most, Bayer wants to turn its back,” said Crump.
“Ben Crump always gives a voice to the voiceless,” Onder said. “We welcome him to the trial team and look forward to fighting on together to make sure our clients get the justice they deserve and the compensation they need.”
Bayer has been under considerable pressure from disenchanted shareholders to settle the cases following several billions of dollars in trial losses. While the current settlement is a step in the right direction, the Roundup litigation is far from over, and is but the tip of the iceberg in Bayer’s total Roundup litigation exposure.
“This is about justice for people who put their lives at risk every day,” Crump said. “We’re not afraid of the fight or tired from the journey. We’re prepared to fight on for them.”
###
About Ben Crump Law
Through his work, nationally renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump has spearheaded a legal movement to better protect the rights of marginalized citizens. He has led landscape-changing civil rights cases and represented clients in a wide range of areas including civil rights, personal injury, labor and employment, class actions, and more. Ben Crump Law is dedicated to holding the powerful accountable. For more information, visit bencrump.com.
About OnderLaw
Jim Onder is the senior member and founder of OnderLaw . Since founding the firm in August of 2002, Jim has distinguished himself and compiled an impressive record of success, working with his partners to collect over $3.5 billion on behalf of those whose interests he represented. His firm acted as co-lead counsel in the successful Yaz Birth Control litigation and as co-liaison counsel in the highly acclaimed Pradaxa litigation. Jim filed the second Talcum Powder lawsuit in the nation and was part of the first five trial teams that obtained over $308 million in verdicts on Talcum Powder Ovarian Cancer lawsuits.
Jim is widely recognized as the national advocate and authority on window covering safety and for his efforts forced the redesign and elimination of corded window coverings in the United States. Jim is a nationally known trial and safety advocate with a history of taking on causes, changing public perception, and effecting meaningful change.
