Latest trial over allegedly defective earplugs goes against 3M

With an $8.2 million jury award going against 3M Friday, the company has now lost three of four bellwether trials in a colossal legal battle over whether it sold defective earplugs to the military, damaging soldiers' hearing.

A federal jury in Pensacola, Fla., on Friday ruled in favor of Brandon Adkins of Tacoma, Wash., one of more than 250,000 military personnel or veterans who have sued Maplewood-based 3M in one of the largest mass torts ever.

Adkins, a 35-year-old Army veteran who served from 2004 to 2009, including two tours in Afghanistan, suffered hearing loss and tinnitus. The jury decided in favor of all five of Adkins' claims against 3M before awarding $8.2 million in compensatory damages.

"It's a great result for Brandon Adkins and it is a big verdict — the largest of any [3M earplug] trial to date," said Michael Sacchet, an attorney at Ciresi Conlin in Minneapolis who is on the earplug plaintiffs' steering committee.

3M, which denies that the earplugs were defective, said in a statement that while it's "disappointed" in Friday's results, there are "many more cases to be tried before different juries. … We remain confident in our case."

The 3M earplug 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.

Six more earplug bellwether trials are scheduled for this year; the next one is slated to start Oct. 18.

In the first bellwether in April, a jury awarded $7.1 million — mostly in punitive damages — to three U.S. Army veterans. In the second trial in May, 3M prevailed when the jury rejected the plaintiff's claims.

A third jury in June awarded $1.7 million to Army veteran Lloyd Baker, siding with his claim of 3M's "failure to warn" about the earplugs' risks. The jury held 3M 62% liable for Baker's hearing injuries and Baker himself 38% liable, meaning he will receive closer to $1.1 million.

That jury also rejected four other claims made by Baker against 3M.

3M became a giant in the military earplug market when it bought Aearo Technologies in 2008.

The litigation centers on Combat Arms Earplugs Version 2 (CAEv2), which were sold to the military from 1999 to 2015. The wave of claims against 3M came after the company settled a whistleblower suit in 2018.

That suit was brought by rival ear plug maker Moldex-Metric on the U.S. government's behalf, after an inquiry by the Army Criminal Investigation 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 ran in 2000, it might 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.