3M wins latest military earplug case

After losing round one, 3M has won the latest round in a massive legal battle over allegations it sold shoddy earplugs to the U.S. military.

On Friday evening, a federal jury in Pensacola, Fla., rejected claims in the second of three bellwether trials that 3M knowingly sold earplugs with design defects, thus causing hearing damage to a military veteran.

The first bellwether trial in April went the plaintiffs' way, with a jury awarding $7.1 million — mostly in punitive damages — to three U.S. Army veterans.

A third bellwether trial for one more veteran is scheduled to begin June 7. All of the bellwether cases involve hearing damage allegedly caused by 3M's Combat Arms Earplugs Version 2, (CAEv2) which were sold to the military from 1999 to 2015.

At least 230,000 claims from military veterans are pending against 3M in federal court in Florida, one of the largest mass torts ever.

The lawsuits are roped together in a multidistrict litigation or MDL case, which is used in the federal court system for complex product liability matters with many separate claims. MDL cases commonly feature bellwether trials, which set a tone for resolving all claims.

"We are pleased with [Friday's verdict] and will continue to vigorously defend ourselves in upcoming trials," 3M said in a statement. "The Combat Arms Earplug Version 2 product is and has always been safe and effective to use."

Lead plaintiff lawyers Bryan Aylstock and Christopher Seeger said in a statement they were "disappointed" by the jury's decision Friday.

"We continue to believe that the evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that 3M knew their CAEv2 earplugs were defective, yet allowed our servicemembers who relied on them for hearing protection to suffer from preventable hearing loss and tinnitus."

3M became a giant in the military earplug market when it bought Aearo Technologies in 2008. The wave of veterans' claims against 3M came after the company settled a whistleblower suit in 2018.

That suit was brought by rival earplug maker Moldex-Metric on the U.S. government's behalf, after an inquiry by the Army Criminal Investigations Command. The suit claimed Aearo knew about "dangerous design defects" in its earplugs in 2000.

In a 2018 report, the Army concluded that had the government known about tests Aearo had done in 2000, it may not have purchased Combat Arms earplugs. In the whistleblower settlement, 3M paid a $9.1 million penalty but denied all claims and did not admit liability.