August 29, 2023, a global settlement agreement was signed with 3M to settle all pending 3M Combat Arms Earplug claims and lawsuits. The judge overseeing the 3M Combat Arms Earplug MDL ordered the negotiating attorneys to keep the settlement and all settlement negotiations completely confidential, so we are just learning the details of the settlement. We are currently reviewing and processing the lengthy settlement agreement and will have many more details to provide to you very soon regarding this historic settlement and what it means for your 3M earplug claim. Please stay tuned.

To be considered for this settlement, you MUST have sent us proof of service and proof of your tinnitus or hearing loss. If you have not done so, you must do this immediately, or you cannot be part of this historic settlement.

Reuters reports Judge Jeffrey Graham of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Indianapolis dismissed the Chapter 11 case of 3M subsidiary Aearo Technologies, siding with plaintiffs’ lawyers who argued that 3M doesn’t face the necessary level of financial distress required to qualify for court protection.

While this is great news for our clients, all cases are still on hold because of an appeal filed by 3M on one of Judge Rodgers’ orders on successor liability. However, Judge Rodgers informed the parties that she will move forward with ruling on various other motions currently pending before her so that the cases will be ready to move forward as soon as the Eleventh Circuit of Appeals rules on the appeal. In the interim, the Court strongly encouraged the parties to continue negotiations.

On June 27,Bloomberg Law reports that the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals started the process of hearing verbal arguments about the bankruptcy sanctions related to Aearo, which 3M claimed were improper.

That same month,The New York Times reports that 3M reached a separate $10.3 billion settlement with U.S. cities and towns nationwide in response to approximately 4,000 lawsuits that claim the chemical manufacturing leader contaminated drinking water with perfluoroalkyl/polyfluoroalkyl, known as ‘forever chemicals.’

Pause on 3M negotiations officially ended on May 1. Bloomberg Law reports that the 11th Circuit’s U.S. Court of Appeals heard oral arguments from both plaintiffs and 3M, hoping to challenge verdicts totaling $8.2 million in damages against the earplug company. The following day, Judge M. Casey Rodgers issued a mediation order for both parties to resume mediation sessions for settlement talks and negotiations in good faith. Further, Reuters reports that Florida Judge Rodgers has specified in his ruling that 3M CEO Michael Roman must attend mediation talks to accelerate the massive litigation, featuring 260,000 active lawsuits against the earplug company.

3M stated earlier this year that it would stop producing per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) by the end of 2025. However, Bloomberg Law reports that 3M will remain on trial for damage claims originating from Stuart, Florida, where the company’s PFAS-based specialized firefighting foam contaminated the Florida city’s waterways. As the city seeks more than $100 million in damages for cleaning its water system, the jury will determine if remedial damages will be added to the charges.

Bloomberg reports that 3M has spent “more than $450 million in legal costs,” or $4.7 million weekly. However, Bloomberg’s analysis does not include $366 million in unpaid damages that courts have already ordered 3M to pay, including damages still outstanding and those that are still pending appeal.

An MDL judge blocked 3M from shifting liability to the company it acquired, Aearo, which was now bankrupt. Reuters reported that multidistrict litigation (MDL) Judge Rodgers saw 3M’s move as an attempt to “rewrite the history of the CAEv2” earplugs and said the company deserves the “harshest penalty.”​

As a result, 3M remains liable for knowingly providing defective earplugs to military personnel, a decision that the company has now appealed. The court has expedited that appeal, and all lawsuits are temporarily halted until the court resolves 3M’s request for review in the coming months.

MarketWatch reports that 3M stock fell to its lowest point since 2018 and was “trading roughly 33% lower” than one year before. However, Bloomberg reports that 3M gained permission from the Eleventh Circuit Court to “resume arguing certain combat earplug issues,” including mentioning their subsidiary’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy, without the judge holding them in contempt.

Bloomberg reports that 3M was forced into settlement mediation by Judge Rodgers after he rejected the company’s bankruptcy litigation strategy, which he said was an attempt to “undermine the biggest multidistrict litigation (MDL) in US history.” 3M reached no global settlement in the mediations that would proceed, and the settlement talks continued in the months ahead.

Wall Street Journal reports that Judge Graham denied “3M’s bankruptcy shield,” meaning that the company could not forgo settlements through automatic bankruptcy as its subsidiary company Aearo had done. Aearo continued its bankruptcy restructuring process and 3M’s defective earplug lawsuit trials commenced.

ALM reports that Judge Rodgers told 3M “to pay all the expenses” in response to the company’s bankruptcy strategy. 3M claimed that the court was not vetting the cases of plaintiffs, which was easily disproved by the 80,000 cases that had already been dismissed.

In the wake of the first mediation round, lawyers of the plaintiffs in the 3M earplug lawsuit pushed forward several cases for trial during 2023. Attorneys also filed an 84-page motion to limit 3M’s expert witness testimony and to preserve prior Daubert rulings by Judge Rodgers.

Wall Street Journal reported that 3M stood to owe “billions in liabilities over $7.63 earplugs.” The looming mediation gave massive visibility to an otherwise ignored litigation struggle, which also happens to be the most significant consolidated mass tort ever.

Judge Rodgers ordered the settlement mediation conference, with Randi Ellis, a federally and state-appointed mediator overseeing the three-day negotiations. Ideally, the mediation would have saved the federal courts exponentially in costs, pushing the remaining 233,000 cases in the multidistrict litigation (MDL) back to their respective home districts in chunks of 500 lawsuits at once.

Overseen by Judge Robin Rosenberg, the army veteran James Beal was the last bellwether plaintiff to come out on top after two weeks of litigation, winning $77.5 million against 3M. Reuters reports that, after hearing the 16th and final bellwether verdict, 3M expressed that they were “disappointed.” Out of 16 bellwether verdicts, the company lost ten and won six. The average payout for the bellwether winners was $30 million.

Bloomberg Law reports that army veteran Jonathan Vaughn won $2.2 million in Florida after 3M’s legal defense proved “unconvincing and without merit.” But while Vaughn overcame in the courts, Reuters reports that 3M won its defense verdict against Denise Kelley, making one of six wins against the plaintiffs in a “massive multidistrict litigation.”

3M lost two more bellwether verdicts, this time against winning plaintiffs Steve Wilkerson and Luke Vilsmeyer. Reuters reports that the verdict “was the second largest in the litigation” and “made up entirely of compensatory damages.” Wilkerson was awarded $8 million, while Vilsmeyer received $50 million, making for a combined $58 million over a single weekend.

Bloomberg Law reports that 3M “plans to appeal” the $110 million Ronald Sloan/Williams Wayman verdict, the last case in the bellwether’s C group and the first bellwether trial of 2022. The final bellwether cases between 3M and a handful of plaintiffs are scheduled for the coming months.

Bloomberg Law reports that bellwether trials six and seven took place with “trials split on liability.” For the 6th bellwether case, Joseph Palanki lost to 3M, making it the second victory for the earplug manufacturer. The following bellwether trial awarded plaintiff Guillermo Camarillorazo with $13.1 million in damages.

Reuters reports that 3M lost “the biggest verdict yet” in the eighth bellwether trial, where Joseph Finley received a $22.5 settlement in a victory against 3M. However, a week later, in the ninth bellwether case, The Star Tribune reports that 3M won against Carlos Montero “days after” the company took a “big loss.”

The company lost an $8.2 million verdict in the fourth bellwether trial, Reuters reports, after litigation that primarily focused on the plaintiff’s tinnitus. Reuters also reports that 3M was “cleared of fault” after a victory against the plaintiff in the following fifth bellwether trial.

Reuters reports that 3M lost the third bellwether trial in a “huge mass tort” against the company. The verdict called for a $1.7 million settlement awarded to the plaintiff, with the judge ruling that 3M failed to issue “adequate safety warnings” with the faulty earplugs.

ALM reports that a $7.1 million verdict was reached for three plaintiffs in the first bellwether trial, with 3M held “100% at fault.” The settlement includes $2.1 million in punitive damages for each of the plaintiffs’ cases.

Aearo Technologies, Inc was likely aware of the earplug defects as early as 2000, many years before 3M became the exclusive provider of selective attenuation earplugs to the military. The United States alleged that 3M and Aearo knew the Combat Arms™ Earplugs Version 2 model was too short for proper insertion into soldiers’ ears and could loosen imperceptibly, potentially resulting in permanent hearing damage for the user.

The earplug design defect, which prevented the earplug from staying put inside the ears of soldiers, was known to 3M, but the company did not disclose it to the Department of Defense. 3M may have manipulated test results to make it appear that the earplugs met government standards.

In July 2018, the United States Department of Justice announced that 3M had agreed to pay $9.1 million to resolve allegations that they knowingly sold the Dual-Ended Combat Arms™ Earplugs, Version 2 to the U.S. military without disclosing defects that hampered the effectiveness of the hearing protection device.

On May 21, the first bellwether trial kicked off, and the courts began to hear arguments from both plaintiffs and the 3M company. The term “bellwether” describes a beginning phase in which the multidistrict litigation court tries a select handful of cases. After determining the bellwether cases, the court will decide how to address the 100,000 remaining 3M verdicts.