Company to begin court-ordered settlement talks over military earplugs, following lawsuits by thousands of veterans

A tiny business for 3M Co.—making MMM 3.21%▲ foam earplugs for the U.S. military—threatens to become a major liability for the manufacturing giant.

More than 100,000 U.S. military veterans have filed lawsuits against Minnesota-based 3M over hearing damage linked to what they claim are defects in the company’s military-grade earplugs. The company faces billions of dollars in potential costs from legal settlements or trials after soldiers alleged they returned from war with hearing damage due to the earplugs, which the government bought for around $7.63 a pair.

3M is set to begin court-ordered negotiations next month with lawyers representing soldiers who used the earplugs. The lawsuits are weighing on 3M shares, analysts said, and signal a warning to other manufacturers that liability risks may outweigh the gains from making protective products.

Earplug cases from across the country, involving dozens of lawyers, have been consolidated into a multidistrict litigation based in Florida. There are currently around 107,000 active cases and an additional 127,000 cases that could move over to the active list if filing fees are paid and other steps are taken.


3M’s Combat Arms earplugs.


3M said the earplugs work when soldiers are given proper training and use them as intended. The company also claimed it has a legal protection known as a government contractor defense, meaning that a supplier can’t be held liable for manufacturing a product that the government requested.

Eric Rucker, a 3M attorney, said the military is continuing to use newer versions of the 3M earplugs. “The product does work,” he said. “It was designed based on our collaboration with the military.”

Bryan Aylstock, the court-appointed lead lawyer for the plaintiffs, said soldiers have hearing damage and ringing in the ears, known as tinnitus, after using the product. “This is a bad earplug,” he said. “Most juries look at the evidence and they award significant damages.”

Soldiers are given a hearing exam when they first join the military and annual exams afterward, which allows their hearing damage to be documented. At issue in the cases is whether soldiers’ hearing issues are due to allegedly faulty earplugs, not wearing them enough, or something else entirely.

The lawsuits, which also include a smaller number of consumers and police plaintiffs, started after 3M settled a case with the Justice Department. In July 2018, 3M agreed to pay $9.1 million to the U.S. government to resolve allegations that it knowingly sold the earplugs to the military without disclosing defects. 3M denied any wrongdoing or liability.

Earlier this year, 3M appealed the ruling of a federal judge in Florida that the contractor defense doesn’t apply because the military didn’t offer reasonably precise specifications for the product. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has supported 3M’s appeal, saying that weakening of the contractor defense could deter companies from making products for the military.



So far, lawyers for 3M and the soldiers have completed 16 court-ordered bellwether trials, which are designed to see how much in damages are awarded in the cases and help inform settlement discussions.

Plaintiffs won 10 of the trials, 3M won six of the cases and an additional eight were dismissed. In the cases that the plaintiffs won, juries awarded damages as high as $77.5 million and as low as $1.7 million. 3M has appealed some of the decisions and said it would likely appeal more.

In June, a Florida judge ordered lawyers for the parties to begin discussions in July that could result in a settlement. The judge also ordered lawyers to start preparing 1,500 cases for trials. In financial disclosures, 3M has said it hasn’t set aside any money for settlements related to the earplug case because it says the liability isn’t probable and that it can’t reasonably estimate potential costs. 3M also said its reputation and cash flow could be hurt by product liability lawsuits.

From the early 2000s to 2015, the U.S. Army and other branches of the military bought about $32 million worth of the earplugs, according to 3M. The company reported total revenue of $35.36 billion for 2021.

3M said earlier this year that for financial reporting purposes, it would start carving out legal-related expenses from its adjusted profit per share, a metric closely watched by analysts.

Even without a settlement, legal fees are piling up. In the first three months of 2022, 3M estimated legal fees of $63 million related to the earplug lawsuit and an older case involving industrial masks. It had $249 million in legal costs in 2021 for those cases.

3M’s earplug challenges arose after the company’s 2008 purchase of Aearo Technologies Inc., the creator of the dual-sided earplugs, for $1.2 billion.

The earplugs operated in two modes. One side is designed to reduce all noise, like a traditional earplug, while the other side is designed to allow spoken communication to be heard while still protecting the wearer from loud sounds like explosions. Aearo had contracts to supply the military with the earplugs, and they were given to every soldier in some units.

“Hear the action now, hear life later,” a 3M poster advertising the earplugs said.

The earplug lawsuits are one of several legal challenges before 3M, which makes office supplies, industrial sandpaper and dental products. It also has a slate of other cases involving so-called forever chemicals, which accumulate and take a long time to break down. These legal liabilities have weighed on 3M’s stock, analysts said. Since the start of 2019, 3M shares are down by nearly 30% while the S&P 500 is up more than 50%.

Scott Davis, chief executive of corporate analysis firm Melius Research, said it was difficult to forecast the potential liabilities from the earplug lawsuits but that most investors view it as a multibillion-dollar liability.

3M, like many manufacturers, has faced other product liability lawsuits over the years. For decades it has dealt with claims from people who alleged they got sick after wearing the company’s industrial-grade masks while dealing with asbestos. 3M has set aside $640 million for liabilities related to these cases. 3M has said the masks work.


link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/3...00?mod=hp_lead_pos11

Anyone who has linked to a vet site anywhere has been bombarded with ads for this for the last several years. Even the Duffleblog (a military themed satire site) has long since stopped mocking the ads.

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Yep. At least this means a settlement is in sight. I am personally sick of ambulance chasing lawyers and their ads.

If you ever worked for .mil or .gov… It’s easy to see how shit like this happens. What a cluster.

Soldiers are given a hearing exam when they first join the military and annual exams afterward??

Not when I was in. My "hearing exam" when I was inducted was a guy with a testing machine asking me how I was doing and I said fine. He then stamped my exam "passed."

Never had another exam the whole time I was in and didn't get one when I got out.

Oh, and the earplugs back then didn't work worth a shit either. I've got some fairly severe hearing loss because of them.

Given the medical hearing test upon entry / during (1968 - 1977) / and discharge with 9 1/2 yrs active service. Drill Sgt. with Field Artillery Howitzers (AIT Training for Trainees)
(105mm towed / 155mm towed and 155mm SP (self propelled) / 175mm Gun SP(self propelled) / 8inch SP(self propelled) /......I Alaska under Artic extreme
sub-zero freezing testing a all new design 155mm towed (recoil system / rocket assist projectile) while the concussion of firing and muzzle blast could and would cause internal body organ damage (round count / time frame limited on gun during firing) .........I Also spent time around M113"s(armored personel carriers) and Huey Helicopters for field transportation while in Alaska. .......... doubled up on ear plugs plus shooting muffs... Mandatory part of everyday uniform was ear plugs in a carrier suspeneded from shirt pocket.......... All is good now... Do not need hearing aids at this time but wife accuses me of having selective hearing. ............................ drill sgt.

I was given hearing tests due to my being a gunners mate, and my side job of firearms instructor. . There also were supposed to test my blood annually.

I wore plugs and muffs, and my hearing is shit. They give me a hearing aid and some money every month for the freedom ring I get in both ears and at several pitches…

I’m not gonna sue the maker of the plugs and muffs…nothing and I mean nothing is going to completely preserve your hearing if you monkey around with cannons…or shoot monthly (or more) or are around gas turbines, or have to go thru a engine room to get to your rack, the list goes on….

Lawyers are the only one making money off these types of cases. The VA should fully fund hearing aids and testing for life of every person who was around loud noise due to their military occupation specialty (MOS). And the .mil should do a better job at prevention of said injury.

I received a hearing test when I went in and one when I left. And a documented drop in hearing. And the VA still gave a "0" for disability. Ship life, carrier life, combat deployments, Ops blowing a gasket when you prove he is an idiot in front of the CO... Oh well.

If the chance to get something from the settlement, then maybe more would have joined. But i suspect the only people who will get anything from it are the lawfirms. It would be nice if some vet groups call the lawyers out and make sure that the firms don't unjustly enrich themselves on a vets injury.

Mike, imagine the soldiers during WWI where preparatory barrages consisted of a million rounds in under 24 hours. How would you like to be on the crew of the 42cm Krupp siege mortar? What? What??

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I would suggest an appeal of the original decision. Your MOS plus the results of the audiometric exam are what counts.

Is there any evidence that they were defective?

Most people I see using mandatory earplugs in manufacturing use them incorrectly - placing them lightly in the ear canal, or solely in the outer ear.

You have to get them in deep while pulling on your ear, and then test them by cupping your hand over your ear. If there is no difference in sound cupped or uncupped they are in right.

I value my hearing so I do it right. Others just wear them because it's a rule and don't use them right.

Just about any foam disposable earplug will do the job if worn correctly.

I have significant high frequency hearing loss from many years around loud noises on flight lines and firing ranges. I used these ear plugs often in my last 6 years in the USAF, going to the range to qualify on handgun and rifle about 4 times a year. I recall thinking that things seemed louder when using these earplugs but thought nothing more about it until this lawsuit came up. I joined the lawsuit but don't expect more than about $4.95 in the settlement.

Hayes, I retired in 2011…I was using the foamies and muffs since 1995 ish and the CG provided us with 3M plugs. They weren’t the same one in the lawsuit. Which are two colored and two sides…yellow and OD for small and large….they have a different construction than just yellow foamies. Actually resemble the OD green ones were were issued that are “flanged” and came in a little green box you tethered to you uniform.

And those asking, yes after the fact they have been tested and found lacking and under he dub rating 3M said they were gonna be at (or close)

So if you wore them jump aboard…but I’d ask first-if you take 3M s money will you not be covered by the VA?

Even so, I think you might not get much money-and frankly I’d rather have my hearing than money.

I don't remember any hearing test while in the service. I had main engine watches and there wasn't any hearing protection that I remember.

We had very few muff in the machine shop aboard ship but never enough for our machinist.
1968-1972

We did have them for the machine shop I worked for the government for 30 years.
Even there, there was no test at retirement.

Yes I do have hearing loss.

I remember hitting the button thinking I heard something and the testor getting on the ting saying they had paused the test and there was nothing to hear.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
Hayes, I retired in 2011…I was using the foamies and muffs since 1995 ish and the CG provided us with 3M plugs. They weren’t the same one in the lawsuit. Which are two colored and two sides…yellow and OD for small and large….they have a different construction than just yellow foamies. Actually resemble the OD green ones were were issued that are “flanged” and came in a little green box you tethered to you uniform.

And those asking, yes after the fact they have been tested and found lacking and under he dub rating 3M said they were gonna be at (or close)

So if you wore them jump aboard…but I’d ask first-if you take 3M s money will you not be covered by the VA?

Even so, I think you might not get much money-and frankly I’d rather have my hearing than money.

I had a retirement physical hearing test and again for the VA. I have the VA hearing aids (which are great but wow expensive) that I have to wear when watching movies otherwise I cannot hear women's voices clearly. I should probably wear them more often especially when conversing with women. Sometimes that is a blessing. The law firm used that VA hearing test as evidence of injury

Are these the hearing protectors with the little baffles in them? I think there is evidence they didn't work right. Legally, it also matters whether the maker could have known they were defective.

But I have no idea what the complete state of the evidence is, so I have no opinion about whether 3M should be on the hook.

I'd have much rather had these foam plugs than the silicone (I presume) flanged jobbers they issued us. Those things didn't work...at all. Everybody thought they looked cool hanging off your pocket though.

These are the ones the lawsuit is about.