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Monsanto Company v. Durnell

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Supreme Court of the United States
Monsanto Company v. Durnell
Docket number: 24-1068
Term: 2025
Court: United States Supreme Court
Important dates
Argument: April 27, 2026
Court membership
Chief Justice John Roberts • Clarence Thomas • Samuel Alito • Sonia Sotomayor • Elena Kagan • Neil Gorsuch • Brett Kavanaugh • Amy Coney Barrett • Ketanji Brown Jackson

Monsanto Company v. Durnell is a case scheduled for argument before the Supreme Court of the United States on April 27, 2026, during the court's October 2025-2026 term.

HIGHLIGHTS
  • The issue: The case concerns the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. Click here to learn more about the case's background.
  • The questions presented: "WHETHER THE FEDERAL INSECTICIDE, FUNGICIDE, AND RODENTICIDE ACT PREEMPTS A LABELBASED FAILURE-TO-WARN CLAIM WHERE EPA HAS NOT REQUIRED THE WARNING."[1]
  • The outcome: The appeal is pending adjudication before the U.S. Supreme Court.


    • The case came on a writ of certiorari to the Missouri Court of Appeals. To review the lower court's opinion, click here.

    Background

    Case summary

    The following are the parties to this case:[2]

    • Petitioner: Monsanto Company
      • Legal counsel: Paul D. Clement
    • Respondent: John L. Durnell
      • Legal counsel: Ashley Conrad Keller

    The following summary of the case was published by Oyez, a free law project from Cornell’s Legal Information Institute, Justia, and the Chicago-Kent College of Law:[3]

    “

    John L. Durnell used Monsanto’s product Roundup, a herbicide containing the active ingredient glyphosate. Durnell subsequently developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which he alleged was caused by his exposure to Roundup and glyphosate. In January 2019, Durnell sued Monsanto, asserting claims for strict liability defective design, strict liability failure to warn, and negligence. Durnell claimed that Monsanto should have included a cancer warning on Roundup’s label to alert users to the risk of developing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma from glyphosate exposure.

    After a jury trial in September 2023 in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis, the jury found in favor of Durnell on his strict liability failure to warn claim and awarded him $1.25 million in compensatory damages, but ruled for Monsanto on the defective design and negligence claims. Monsanto moved for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, arguing that federal law—specifically the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA)—both expressly and impliedly preempted Durnell’s failure to warn claim. The trial court denied the motion, and Monsanto appealed to the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, which affirmed the judgment.[4]

    		”

    To learn more about this case, see the following:

    Timeline

    The following timeline details key events in this case:

    • April 27, 2026: The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument.
    • January 16, 2026: The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.
    • April 4, 2025: Monsanto Company appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
    • February 11, 2025: The Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis.

    Questions presented

    The petitioner presented the following questions to the court:[1]

    Questions presented:
    “ WHETHER THE FEDERAL INSECTICIDE, FUNGICIDE, AND RODENTICIDE ACT PREEMPTS A LABELBASED FAILURE-TO-WARN CLAIM WHERE EPA HAS NOT REQUIRED THE WARNING.[4] ”

    Oral argument

    Audio

    Audio of the case will be posted here when it is made available.

    Transcript

    A transcript of the case will be posted here when it is made available.

    Outcome

    The case is pending adjudication before the U.S. Supreme Court.

    October term 2025-2026

    See also: Supreme Court cases, October term 2025-2026

    The Supreme Court began hearing cases for the term on October 6, 2025. The court's yearly term begins on the first Monday in October and lasts until the first Monday in October the following year. The court generally releases the majority of its decisions by mid-June.[5]


    See also

    External links

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Supreme Court of the United States, "24-1068 MONSANTO COMPANY V. DURNELL QP", January 16, 2026
    2. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "No. 24-1068," accessed February 10, 2026
    3. ↑ Oyez, "Monsanto Company v. Durnell," accessed February 10, 2026
    4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
    5. ↑ SupremeCourt.gov, "The Supreme Court at Work: The Term and Caseload," accessed January 24, 2022
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