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court-appointed mediator for

the settlement talks, said he

continues to be “cautiously op-

timistic that an accord can be

reached” but called it “prema-

ture” to say any final agree-

ment has been achieved.

A spokesman for Bayer said,

“Mediation discussions con-

tinue in good faith under a

court order requiring confiden-

tiality, and the company cannot

comment on speculation about

outcomes, timing or progress.”

The company has defended

the popular weedkiller, noting

that multiple regulators, in-

cluding the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, have said it

is safe. The company lost its

first three jury trials, all of

which it is appealing.

The major firms that have

agreed to terms are Andrus

Wagstaff PC, Baum Hedlund

Aristei & Goldman PC, Moore

Law Group PLLC, Weitz & Lux-

enberg PC, the Miller Firm PC

and Lundy, Lundy, Soileau &

South LLP. Those companies

have either won big verdicts

against Bayer, have trials up-

coming or have large invento-

ries of cases, giving them sig-

nificant leverage.

Bayer inherited tens of

thousands of lawsuits with its

2018 takeover of Monsanto

Co., the maker of Roundup.

Bayer may still struggle to

achieve finality in the case, es-

pecially given that the product

remains on store shelves. Some

law firms representing thou-

sands of plaintiffs remain un-

happy with the terms offered

so far, saying it favors the lead-

ing firms over others. It is un-

clear if this complaint would be

enough reason for them to re-

ject the certainty offered by a

settlement versus going to trial.

BayerAG has agreed on
draft settlement terms with
half a dozen law firms repre-
senting tens of thousands of
plaintiffs alleging that the
company’s Roundup weedkiller
causes cancer, pushing the liti-
gation closer to a final resolu-
tion, according to people fa-
miliar with the matter.
The six big firms speak on
behalf of dozens of firms that
represent a large chunk of the
plaintiffs suing Bayer, the people
said. Bayer is striving to find a
way to both keep Roundup on
consumer shelves and end litiga-
tion that significantly damaged
its share price following the loss
of three jury trials in the U.S.
For weeks, Bayer and plain-
tiffs attorneys have been dis-
cussing a settlement in the
$10 billion range, The Wall
Street Journal has reported,
citing people familiar with the
matter. One person said the
deal still appears poised to
end up around that number,
though the people cautioned
that a formal deal hasn’t been
signed and could yet fall apart.
Bayer has said that protect-
ing itself from future litigation
is a condition of any settlement.
The parties could reach a fi-
nal agreement in the coming
weeks, the people said. That
would help Bayer appease anx-
ious shareholders in advance
of its annual meeting in late
April. A first deal with plaintiff
lawyers would relieve the Ger-
man chemicals and pharma-
ceuticals company of a major
headache as it is under grow-
ing pressure to reach a settle-
ment to appease investors.
Kenneth Feinberg, the

BYLAURAKUSISTO
ANDJACOBBUNGE

Bayer Moves

Closer to a

Settlement

“Cancer victims have to be

treated the same and if they’re

not we’re ready, willing and

fully motivated to go to trial,”

said Majed Nachawati, a Dal-

las-based attorney represent-

ing more than 4,000 claimants.

Jim Onder, senior member

of the St. Louis-based Onder

Law Firm, said Bayer has yet

to offer satisfactory settlement

terms to tens of thousands of

plaintiffs, including more than

22,000 clients represented by

his firm. “We have a series of

cases set to go to trial begin-

ning in June 2020,” he said.

Bayer and the plaintiff attor-

neys are under growing pres-

sure to reach a deal. California

U.S. District Judge Vince

Chhabria, who is overseeing the

consolidated cases, on March 5

granted the parties a 35-day ex-

tension suspending deadlines

on the litigation so they can fo-

cus on settlement talks.

Tom Claps, an analyst at

Susquehanna Financial Group,

said that means that if the par-

ties don’t reach a deal by mid-

April, they would begin moving

forward on the litigation. “We’re

getting to that point where there

has to be some movement on the

settlement front or the judge is

going to push forward,” he said.

Bayer executives have in-

sisted they are under no pres-

sure to settle unless they can

achieve a lasting deal for the

right price.

—Ruth Bender

contributed to this article.

Bayer has defended the weedkiller Roundup, noting that regulators, including the Environmental Protection Agency, have said it is safe.

JOSH EDELSON/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

WASHINGTON—The Penta-

gon’s star-crossed JEDI cloud-

computing project has taken

yet another turn, raising the

potential for further delays.

A federal judge already has

halted work on the Joint En-

terprise Defense Infrastructure

over allegations of contract ir-

regularities. Now, the Penta-

gon is seeking a halt to court

proceedings, saying it wants

time to rethink some aspects

of the project.

The Pentagon awarded the

contract, expected to be worth

up to $10 billion over a de-

cade, to MicrosoftCorp.—

triggering a lawsuit challeng-

ing the decision by rival

bidderAmazon.comInc.

The Pentagon’s move to

pause the court proceedings

opens the door to possible

changes in the deal.

Lawyers for Amazon plan to

oppose the move, according to

court documents filed this

week by the Department of

Defense as part of its move to

pause court proceedings. Ama-

zon is worried that it might

ultimately serve only to allow

the Pentagon to shore up its

case for letting Microsoft pro-

ceed with the contract.

Amazon said it was pleased

by what it said was the De-

fense Department’s acknowl-

edgment that the contracting

process was flawed.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon’s

proposed reconsideration of

parts of the contract repre-

sents the latest in a series of

complications and delays for

the controversial JEDI project,

which has been in develop-

ment since at least 2017.

Amazon’s cloud unit, Ama-

zon Web Services was long

considered the favorite to win

the contract, but lost out to

Microsoft in a decision that

Amazon contends was tainted

by influence from President

Trump. In response to Ama-

zon’s bid protest, a judge de-

cided last month to halt work

on the project.

BYJOHND.MCKINNON

Another

Hurdle

For JEDI

Project

immigrant labor and from law-

makers in districts with large

immigrant populations.

This year, lawmakers

reached a compromise that

hands Mr. DeSantis a partial

victory, but appeases the con-

cerns of some opponents.

Though the GOP governor

had pushed for a bill that

would require all employers to

use E-Verify, lawmakers weak-

ened it—in part to appease

House members, including Re-

publican Speaker José Oliva,

uncomfortable with some en-

forcement provisions. The ver-

sion passed by lawmakers

would mandate E-Verify only

for public employers and com-

panies that contract with them.

Private employers would

have a choice either to use E-

Verify or rely on I-9 employ-

ment authorization forms al-

ready required for businesses.

Advocates of stronger immi-

gration enforcement said the

bill didn’t go far enough.

“A better way to start with

state-based E-Verify legisla-

tion is to start with requiring

state agencies and contractors

or certain industries to use it

and build on that,” said Jes-

sica M. Vaughan, director of

policy studies for the Center

for Immigration Studies, a

group arguing for lower levels

of immigration. “But you can’t

give employers the choice.”

The current version stripped

out controversial aspects in an

earlier iteration. They included a

provision allowing the state’s

economic-development office to

conduct random audits of em-

ployment files of firms that

don’t use E-Verify. Business

groups assailed those parts of

the bill as empowering a state

agency to become an arm of fed-

eral immigration authorities. Un-

der the current bill, private em-

ployers face just an additional

paperwork rule: To retain for at

least three years the documenta-

tion workers provide as part of

the I-9 verification process.

“They didn’t get everything

they wanted, but they were still

able to pass legislation that un-

dermines business and scape-

goats immigrants,” said Ali

Noorani, executive director of

the National Immigration Fo-

rum, which works with busi-

nesses that support liberalized

immigration legislation.

MIAMI—Florida lawmakers
passed a bill late Thursday
that requires some employers
to use the federal E-Verify sys-
tem to check the immigration
status of new hires, but
doesn’t include the strict en-
forcement provisions for which
conservatives had advocated.
The measure comes in a
presidential election year in
which President Trump is ex-
pected to campaign in part on
his aggressive crackdown on il-
legal immigration. Florida,
which has a large immigrant
population, but also a Republi-
can base animated by opposi-
tion to illegal immigration, will
likely be a key battleground.
The bill passed the Florida
Senate 23-17, after clearing the
state House 73-45 a day ear-
lier. It is now headed to Re-
publican Gov. Ron DeSantis, an
ally of Mr. Trump who is ex-
pected to sign it.
The bill would make Florida
the 21st state to require use of
the federal E-Verify program,
an electronic government data-
base that checks whether new
hires are eligible to work in the
U.S., according to LawLogix, a
software company that special-
izes in immigration compliance.
While employers praised
lawmakers for removing the
bill’s most stringent enforce-
ment provisions, some still crit-
icized the state for passing any
version of an E-Verify bill. They
argued immigration legislation
should be handled by Congress,
not by individual states that
thereby create an inconsistent
patchwork for companies.
Paul DiMare, president of
DiMare Fresh, a large tomato
grower in Florida, said he al-
ready struggles to fill jobs, 30%
to 40% of which are vacant at
his company. An E-Verify mea-
sure will make it even harder
by scaring away workers, he
added. “As soon as you put in
E-Verify, they will move to an-
other state,” he said. “It’s a de-
struction of our businesses.”
E-Verify legislation has
failed repeatedly in Florida in
recent years. It has faced strong
opposition from business and
agricultural groups that rely on

BYARIANCAMPO-FLORES
ANDALEJANDROLAZO

Florida Legislature Passes

A Weakened E-Verify Bill

Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign E-Verify legislation.

WILFREDO LEE/ASSOCIATED PRESS

The state would be

the 21st to require

use of the federal

program.

Lift.Bar with electric mechanism lifting the interior shelving, design Sacha Lakic.

Manufactured in Europe.

http://www.roche-bobois.com

French Art de Vivre

SOHO

118 PRINCE STREET

NEW YORK, NY

212.343.

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