Welcome to Critical Mass, Law.com's weekly briefing for class action and mass tort attorneys. Bayer agreed to pay up to $10.9 billion to settle most of the Roundup lawsuits—but not all of them. While recovering from a bicycle accident this year, plaintiffs' attorney Stephen Susman contracted COVID-19. Ticket holders suing for refunds came out swinging over Major League Baseball's new season.

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Announcing Two Incredible Keynote Speakers for the Women, Influence & Power in Law Conference

WIPL is known for having some of the most engaging and energizing keynote speakers attend to share their thoughts, experiences, war stories and tips on effective leadership. And this year is no exception. This year, we are grateful to welcome two remarkable women come and inspire us: Tina Tchen, the President and CEO of the "Times Up" Legal Defense Fund and Paula Boggs, Founder of Boggs Media LLC and Former Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, Law and Corporate Affairs at Starbucks from 2002-2012. READ MORE

 

Roundup weedkiller on shelves at Walmart in Baltimore, MD. March 14, 2020.

 

Bayer Settles Most of the Roundup Lawsuits

After months of negotiations, Bayer finally announced last week a series of settlements worth up to $10.9 billion that would resolve the bulk of the Roundup pesticide litigation.

The deals include settlements involving inventories of 25 law firms, plus a $1.1 billion class action settlement, subject to judicial review, that Bayer is gambling could end future Roundup litigation for good.

What's left? About 25% of an estimated 125,000 claims over Roundup. Rhon Jones (Beasley Allen) said he had 2,000 Roundup cases still pending in Missouri state courts that weren't included in the recent settlements:

"We are absolutely committed to a path that takes us to a fair resolution. We continue to be, but at the same time, if there's not enough transparency as to what it is we would be accepting, we can't do that. And so I remain hopeful that we will be able to work out a satisfactory settlement with Bayer and Monsanto. But in the interim, if that's what's being offered now, and it's not, we have to prepare our cases for trial."

The COVID-19 in Texas Dashboard as of June 26, 2020 showed 131,917 reported COVID-19 cases in Texas and 2,296 Texans who have died.

 

Stephen Susman Diagosed With COVID-19

As the COVID-19 pandemic hits record numbers in Texas, law firms in the Lone Star State are rethinking their reopening plans. The coronavirus has even infected prominent plaintiffs' lawyer Stephen Susman (Susman Godfrey), who had been recovering from a serious cycling accident back in April. Susman's wife, Ellen, reported in a CaringBridge posting on June 23 that he was diagnosed with COVID-19.

"We are heartsick that our valiant warrior has another battle," she wrote about her husband, who is currently at TIRR, a rehabilitation hospital in Houston.

By Saturday, his family wrote, they had been on "pins and needles" but Susman was responding well to COVID-19 treatments and, if recovered, would resume rehabilitation. "The path of which is uncertain and most likely will continue to have ups and downs," according to a June 27 entry. "However, our family remains strong and united in this journey."

Is Major League Baseball Still Not Playing Ball?

Major League Baseball announced that a 60-game season would start July 23 or July 24, with training camps beginning today. That begs the question: What happens to the class action filed by ticket holders seeking refunds? A June 25 release by Milberg Phillips Grossman, which filed the lawsuit, says some of the league's teams have offered partial credits and refunds, but there is no consistent response. Peggy Wedgworth (Milberg) said this:

"During unprecedented uncertainty and financial hardship, Major League Baseball is playing games with fans. The league's latest announcement does not properly address the issues raised by our lawsuit."

Here's what else is happening:

Pittsburgh Protests: A rare class action alleges that city officials in Pittsburgh violated the constitutional rights of anti-racism protesters when they used tear gas and rubber bullets on them last month. The suit, filed on Monday by Quinn Cozzens (Abolitionist Law Center) and Margaret Coleman (The Law Offices of Timothy P. O'Brien), is likely the first case to be filed over the protests in Pennsylvania. The suit alleges the June 1 peaceful protest escalated into a "scene of pandemonium, panic, violence and bloodshed," the suit says.

Big Mac Attack: A judge has ordered McDonald's to improve its COVID-19 pandemic practices in a class action on behalf of employees at four of its Chicago restaurants. In one of the first rulings against a business over coronavirus protections of employees, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Eve Reilly concluded that McDonald's, while providing face masks, hand sanitizer and training for employees, failed to enforce policies that they remain six feet apart and wear a mask properly. Such risks to the community were "severe" and potentially a "matter of life or death," she wrote, granting an emergency preliminary injunction.

EU Class?: The European Union may have banned Americans from traveling there, but it took a big step last week toward allowing consumers to bring class actions similar to that in the United States. Negotiators from the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, which represents the 27 governments, agreed this week on new rules that, if approved, would allow collective lawsuits—although with provisions that Geoffroy Didier, a French member of the European Parliament, said would ensure that "all dangers and failures inherent in American class action are avoided."

Thanks for reading Critical Mass! Stay safe, and I'll be back next week.