3M Earplugs Litigation

Seeger Weiss founding partner and 3M earplug litigation co-lead counsel Chris Seeger announced a settlement worth more than $6B on behalf of servicemembers and veterans who suffered hearing injuries while using 3M earplugs. This milestone agreement was the culmination of years of work by Seeger Weiss attorneys, including David Buchanan, Caleb Seeley, Parvin Aminolroaya, and Max Kelly.

Chief Judge Jeffery Graham of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana dismissed the Aearo bankruptcy, finding that bankruptcy served no “valid reorganizational purpose,” and that Aearo was financially healthy. This allows the lawsuits in the In Re: 3M Combat Arms Earplug Products Liability Litigation to move forward and the MDL court has indicated it will soon remand cases for trial.

Aearo filed an appeal of the bankruptcy court’s ruling to the Seventh Circuit.

Judge Rodgers ordered 3M CEO Mike Roman to attend an upcoming mediation session in person as the two sides attempt to negotiate a resolution.

As of May 15, 2023, approximately 255,500 lawsuits have been filed in In Re: 3M Combat Arms Earplug Products Liability Litigation.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit heard argument on 3M’s appeal of legal decisions and jury verdicts in two bellwether trials that had resulted in damages awarded to four plaintiffs injured by the CAEv2. Plaintiffs argued that the verdicts should stand because Judge Rodgers’ rulings were legally correct, and because the jury found for the plaintiffs on grounds not challenged by 3M.

Chief Judge Jeffery Graham of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana held a five-day evidentiary hearing on plaintiffs’ motion to dismiss the Aearo bankruptcy. During the hearing, plaintiffs advocated in favor of the motion to dismiss, arguing Aearo should not be able to use bankruptcy protections because it is not in financial distress and because the bankruptcy was only filed as a litigation tactic to shield parent company 3M from accountability.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit heard argument on an appeal of the bankruptcy court’s ruling declining to stay the CAEv2 litigation against 3M and allowing the MDL to move forward.

As of February 16, 2023, approximately 200,000 lawsuits have been filed in In Re: 3M Combat Arms Earplug Products Liability Litigation.

Lawyers representing more than 250,000 veterans impacted by 3M’s defective earplugs filed a motion to dismiss the Aearo bankruptcy, arguing 3M’s subsidiary was highly solvent when it filed for bankruptcy with an unlimited funding backstop from its parent company and that 3M filed the bankruptcy for a tactical litigation advantage.

Plaintiffs filed a reply brief before the Seventh Circuit, calling the Aearo bankruptcy a “contrivance by clever lawyers to channel thousands of cases out of the civil litigation system, where they belong, and into a bankruptcy system that 3M believes will afford it greater leverage.” Plaintiffs argue that the bankruptcy court correctly concluded that staying the litigation against 3M will not provide any benefits because 3M, not Aearo, is the party that will ultimately bear all the costs associated with that litigation.

Judge Rodgers declared an impasse in the MDL mediation. After several years of informal settlement discussions and roughly seven months of formal mediation, none of the hundreds of thousands of lawsuits from veterans have been settled. According to the order, 3M “advised the Court that it has no desire to reach a global resolution in the MDL and is absolutely determined to resolve all CAEv2 claims solely through the bankruptcy system.”

Judge Rodgers granted plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment on 3M Company’s Full and Independent Liability for CAEv2-Related Injuries. The order precludes 3M from shifting blame to its Aearo subsidiary as a sanction for the company’s explicit statements and conduct establishing itself as the sole liable party over the course of nearly four years in the MDL and its “bad faith reversal of that position solely to serve its strategic objectives in bankruptcy.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit granted a petition by 3M subsidiary Aearo Technologies to review the bankruptcy court’s ruling refusing to stay lawsuits against 3M during Aearo’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy.  Oral Argument was scheduled for April, 2023.

After a three-day hearing that took place August 15-17 in the Northern District of Indiana before the Honorable Jeffrey Graham, 3M was denied a preliminary injunction – meaning it will not be afforded the protections of bankruptcy and we will continue to hold it accountable for damage caused to veterans in the federal MDL proceedings before Judge M. Casey Rodgers in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida.

Aearo Technologies, an all-but-defunct 3M subsidiary headquartered in Indianapolis, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Indiana Southern Bankruptcy Court before the Honorable Jeffery J. Graham. In the filing, Aearo agreed to assume all the legal liabilities from 3M associated with its defective CAEv2 earplugs. This move, if successful, would allow 3M to avoid responsibility for the hundreds of thousands of veterans suffering from irreparable hearing loss and tinnitus caused by the company’s faulty earplugs.

Plaintiff Lloyd Baker filed a response brief today opposing 3M’s appeal of the verdict in his favor from the third bellwether trial. The brief criticized 3M for claiming that the government contractor defense provides immunity for the company’s “undisputedly inadequate” warnings, saying that excuse “founders at every step.” In fact, 3M failed to identify any evidence that the military prohibited them from warning about the CAEv2’s risks and dangers—the very defects that the jury unanimously concluded caused Mr. Baker’s hearing loss and tinnitus. Seeger Weiss was co-trial counsel for Mr. Baker. We believe the Eleventh Circuit will affirm Judge Rodgers’ prior ruling that 3M cannot use the government contractor defense and the jury’s verdict.

The bellwether trial process has now concluded, with the vast majority of juries ruling in favor of plaintiffs and against 3M. Overall, the plaintiffs won 10 of the 16 trials, securing more than $300 million in verdicts for 13 veterans. Going forward, Judge Rogers has ordered hundreds of cases to be prepared for trials across the country.

In the 16^th and final bellwether trial, a jury awarded veteran James Beal $77.5 million for the bilateral tinnitus and noise-induced hearing loss he suffered because of 3M’s defective earplugs. The verdict, the largest for an individual plaintiff to-date, included $5 million in compensatory damages and $72.5 million in punitive damages.

Seeger Weiss founding partner Chris Seeger, along with firm client and Army veteran Joseph Sigmon, were featured in an NBC News story about the 3M Combat Arms litigation and the severe injuries suffered by servicemembers due to the defective earplugs. Seeger Weiss represents thousands of former servicemembers who were injured by 3M’s dangerously defective earplugs. Learn more here.

Army veteran Jonathon Vaughn was awarded $2.2 million in the 15^th bellwether trial. Vaughn is the 12^th plaintiff to receive a favorable verdict in the ongoing litigation.

Juries returned verdicts totaling $58 million for combat veterans Luke Vilsmeyer and Steve Wilkerson in the 12th and 13th bellwether trials. These major wins for the plaintiffs follow a $110 million verdict in the 11th bellwether trial in January. Overall, plaintiffs have now won eight out of the 13 bellwether trials, equating to more than $200 million in total verdicts against 3M.

In the 11^th bellwether trial, a jury awarded $110 million to Ronald Sloan and firm client William Wayman. Seeger Weiss partner David Buchanan served as lead counsel for Mr. Wayman as well as co-lead trial counsel in the consolidated trial. The verdict is the largest thus far out of the 11 trials that have taken place to-date. After the verdict was announced, Buchanan said, “Will, an Army Ranger and Blackhawk medevac pilot, and Ron, a Master Sergeant and tank commander, chose service and sacrifice over themselves. For its part, 3M chose sales over the safety of Will, Ron, and the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians who used the Combat Arms Earplug.” Learn more here.

A jury awarded combat veteran and Purple Heart recipient Theodore Finley $22.5 million in the eighth bellwether trial, including $15 million in punitive damages. Following the Camarillorazo verdict in the seventh bellwether, the Finley verdict once again set the record for largest verdict and punitive damages awarded in the 3M Combat Arms Earplug litigation.

In the seventh bellwether trial, a jury returned a favorable verdict for active-duty US army Sergeant Guillermo Camarillorazo, awarding him $816,395 in compensatory damages and $12.2 million in punitive damages. Sergeant Camarillorazo is now the sixth servicemember who successfully held 3M accountable, and the jury assessed the largest punitive damages against the company thus far.

A federal jury returned a verdict of $8.2 million in favor of army veteran Brandon Atkins in the fourth bellwether trial, marking the largest plaintiff victory to-date. Plaintiffs have thus far prevailed in three of the first four bellwether trials.

Seeger Weiss partner Dave Buchanan represented veteran Lloyd Baker, serving as co-lead counsel in the third bellwether trial and securing a $1.7 million verdict. Following news of the jury’s decision, Buchanan said, “3M knew and withheld material information concerning the safety of the Combat Arms earplug—a product that, unfortunately, was used by hundreds of thousands of servicemembers, including Lloyd Baker. We’re pleased that the jury recognized 3M’s misconduct and the gravity of the injuries Lloyd was left with following his use of the Combat Arms earplug.”

After a four-week trial – the first of 16 bellwethers meant to test the strength of the plaintiffs’ arguments and give parties information that will shape any potential settlement – a federal jury in Florida found in favor of plaintiffs Luke Estes, Lewis Keefer, and Stephen Hacker. The jury awarded $7.1 million to the three veterans, including more than $6 million in punitive damages. This victory sets the stage for hundreds of thousands of servicemembers and veterans to hold 3M accountable for preventable hearing loss and tinnitus they suffered while relying on the company’s defective earplugs.

The honorable M. Casey Rodgers rejected 3M’s attempts to use the government contractor defense to dismiss thousands of lawsuits from servicemembers and veterans. In her ruling, Judge Rodgers said that there is “no evidence that the Army ‘actually participated in discretionary design decisions, either by designing [the CAEv2] itself or approving specifications.” Moreover, “there is no evidence—none—that the Army prohibited [3M] from warning of alleged dangers inherent in the use of the CAEv2.” The ruling is a milestone for plaintiffs, ensuring that they can hold 3M accountable in court. Learn more here.

Seeger Weiss LLP founding partner Chris Seeger was appointed co-lead counsel to oversee the 3M Combat Arms Earplug Litigation. Bryan Aylstock of Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis & Overholtz was selected as lead counsel and Shelley Hutson of Clark, Love & Hutson was also chosen as co-lead counsel. The leadership team was formed after judges evaluated 190 applications and listened to 64 presentations over a 2-day period. Seeger has led some of the most complex, groundbreaking, and high-profile litigations in U.S. history, including National Prescription Opioid Litigation, Vioxx Product Liability Litigation, and National Football League Players’ Concussion Injury Litigation. Learn more here.

The judicial panel on multidistrict litigation ordered claims against 3M to be centralized before Judge M. Casey Rodgers in the Northern District of Florida. Plaintiffs allege that the company’s Combat Arms Earplugs version 2 were defective, causing hearing loss and/or tinnitus.