On August 26, Judge Jeffrey J. Graham of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana ruled that the bankruptcy of 3M’s subsidiary Aearo Technologies did not halt the earplug litigation cases pending against the parent company, and denied Aearo’s...
President Biden Signs PACT Act to Increase Veteran’s Health Care Benefits
On August 10, President Biden signed into law the bipartisan Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act designed to expand Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits and health care for veterans exposed to...
Judge Raises Concerns about 3M Placing Aearo Technologies in Bankruptcy
At a July 27 hearing in Pensacola, FL, U.S. District Court Judge M. Casey Rodgers expressed concerns regarding 3M’s decision to resolve the more than 230,000 earplug litigation cases pending against it by putting its Aearo Technologies division into bankruptcy, in...
Litigation Update: Two 3M Earplug Verdicts Won by Former Service Members
Two juries in separate bellwether cases found against 3M and subsidiary Aearo Technologies and in favor of former service members who claimed that they suffered hearing loss as a result of using 3M’s defective CAEv2 earplugs. Both cases were tried as part of the...
Litigation Update: Split 3M Earplug Decisions with More Cases Scheduled for 2022
On December 10, a federal jury in Tallahassee, Florida awarded former U.S. Army veteran Theodore Finley $22.5 million, including $15 million in punitive damages, against earplug manufacturers 3M Co.and Aearo Technologies LLC. The plaintiff had alleged that as a result...
Litigation Update: U.S. District Court Denies 3M’s New Trial Motion in Earplug Litigation
In an order filed on August 9, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida denied earplug manufacturer 3M’s motion for a new trial, stating that 3M and its predecessor Aearo, LLC, had failed to prove that it had been prejudiced in the first...
Litigation Update: Federal Jury Clears 3M in Second Earplug MDL Bellwether Trial
On May 28, a federal court jury in Pensacola, FL found 3M not liable after less than one day of deliberation in the second bellwether trial held in the Combat Arms Earplug Version 2 (CAEv2) multi-district litigation. The jury determined that 3M was not responsible...
Litigation Update: 3M Earplug Expert Found Not Qualified in MDL Bellwether Case
On May 11, presiding Judge M. Casey Rodgers ruled against 3M by finding that one of its experts was not qualified to offer an opinion in the MDL bellwether case that was scheduled to begin trial on May 17 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of...
Litigation Update: $7.1 Million Awarded to Former Service Members in First 3M Earplugs Bellwether Trial
On April 30, in the first bellwether trial to be held in the 3M earplugs multidistrict litigation, a Pensacola jury awarded $7.1 million to three former service members who claimed the company’s defective earplugs irreparably damaged their hearing. The plaintiffs,...
Litigation Update: First 3M Earplugs Bellwether Trial Starts
The first bellwether trial brought by former military service members against 3M and predecessor, Aearo LLC for allegedly defective earplugs started March 29 in Pensacola, FL. The plaintiffs include three Army veterans who claim that from 2003-2015, 3M knowingly...