2 vets to get $110M in 3M earplugs suit

3M Earplugs

A federal jury Thursday awarded $110 million to two U.S. Army veterans who said they had hearing damage because of combat earplugs produced by multinational manufacturer 3M.

It is the latest decision in a network of hundreds of thousands of lawsuits that accuse 3M of knowingly selling defective earplugs to the military. 3M has maintained that the since-discontinued product, which was marketed as Combat Arms earplugs, Version 2, was effective and safe to use.

The decision Thursday represented the largest sum awarded to date in the earplug litigation against 3M. The two veterans, Ronald Sloan and William Wayman, were each awarded $15 million in compensatory damages and $40 million in punitive damages by a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.

$22.5 Million Verdict in 3M Combat Earplug Trial

3M Earplugs

A jury in Pensacola, Florida has awarded U.S. Army Veteran Theodore Finley $22.5 million in a lawsuit seeking damages for hearing loss and tinnitus caused by combat earplugs sold by 3M Co. This latest verdict surpasses seven previous verdicts, including a $13 million verdict awarded by jurors to a U.S. Army sergeant last month.

“It is always upsetting to see large, multi-billion corporations putting their profits above the safety and health of their consumers,” said Texas Attorney Thomas J. Henry. “In this case, however, we saw 3M Co. take advantage of our U.S. servicemen and women. That is simply unacceptable, and the jury’s verdict shows that the people our military members serve will not stand for it.”

3M loses latest in series of military earplug cases

3M Earplugs

A $22.5 million jury verdict against 3M is the largest penalty yet in a series of trials over allegedly defective earplugs manufactured by the Maplewood-based company.

A federal jury in Tallahassee, Fla., late last week ruled in favor of Theodore Finley, who served in the U.S. Army from 2006 to 2014. Finley alleged that he developed bilateral tinnitus and noise-induced hearing loss while wearing 3M-made earplugs as he worked around weapon fire, generators, mechanized vehicles, helicopters and during training and combat.

It was the eighth ruling in a series of bellwether trials against the company, and the fifth where the plaintiff prevailed. Three juries rejected all claims against 3M.

The trials are part of what may be the largest U.S. mass tort ever, with more than 250,000 veterans

Bellwether Military Earplug Verdicts Underscores Importance of Establishing Government-Contractor Defense

3M Earplugs

In the most recent round of the long-running litigation over hearing protection supplied by manufacturing giant 3M and used by U.S. Military personnel from 2002 until 2015, Plaintiffs have obtained large verdicts in 3 out of 4 bellwether cases against 3M.

In July 2018, 3M reached a $9.1-million settlement with the Department of Justice in a False Claims Act lawsuit. Subsequently, hundreds of thousands of individual claims followed in courts across the United State, with Plaintiffs alleging that 3M’s Combat Arms Earplugs (Version 2) were defective. In April 2019, the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ordered that all earplug lawsuits against 3M pending in federal district courts would be transferred to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida (the

3M Wins Lawsuit Over Military-Issued Earplugs

3M Earplugs

A federal jury in Florida sided with earplug manufacturer 3M that the company’s product did not cause hearing loss for a veteran who used them while serving in the military.

The trial was the second of three scheduled this year that could impact the outcome of a lawsuit involving nearly 236,000 veterans who were issued the earplugs while in the service.

3M, a Minnesota-based company, lost the first trial April in which a jury awarded $7.1 million to three Army veterans who said they suffered from hearing loss and tinnitus because of the earplugs. The second trial involved one veteran, Dustin McCombs, with a similar lawsuit.

The jury on Friday determined 3M was not liable, negligent or fraudulent when selling earplugs to the military, according to court documents.