U.S. judge cuts $55 million 3M combat-earplug verdict by over half

A federal judge has slashed a jury award to a U.S. Army veteran who said his hearing was damaged by combat earplugs sold by 3M Co. to the military from $55 million to $21.7 million, citing limits under Colorado law on how much he could win.

Tuesday's decision by U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers in William Wayman's case marks the first time the Pensacola, Fla.-based judge tasked with overseeing hundreds of thousands of cases over 3M's earplugs has reduced a jury award.

Wayman, who served in the Army from 1997 to 2017, said he suffers from permanent hearing damage and tinnitus due to using 3M's Combat Arms Earplugs Version 2 while exposed to noise, including during deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Wayman and another veteran, Ronald Sloan, were each in January awarded $15 million in compensatory damages and $40 million in punitive damages, marking one of the biggest jury awards to date in the largest federal mass tort ever.

But Rodgers said some of the $15 million in compensatory damages awarded to Wayman were subject to a Colorado cap on non-economic damages, and as a result, he was entitled only to $7.2 million with prejudgment interest.

While punitive damages in general cannot exceed actual damages under the law of Colorado, where Wayman lives, they can be increased upon a finding that a defendant "engaged in bad-faith conduct."

Rodgers wrote that because the jury made such a finding in Wayman's case, the punitive damages award would be reduced to $14.5 million.

A spokesperson for Wayman's lawyers, who include David Buchanan of Seeger Weiss and Bryan Aylstock of Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis & Overholtz, had no immediate comment. 3M, represented by Mike Brock of Kirkland & Ellis, had no comment.

The verdict came in the 11th of 16 trials to result from the cases by more than 290,000 former and active military members who claim 3M's earplugs are defective and damaged their hearing.

Aearo Technologies, which 3M bought in 2008, developed the product. Plaintiffs allege the company hid design flaws, fudged test results and failed to provide instructions for the proper use of the earplugs. 3M denies the allegations.

Plaintiffs prevailed in 10 of the cases, most recently when a jury last week awarded a veteran $77.5 million, the largest verdict to a single person. Juries sided with 3M in the remaining six cases.