{"id":83740,"date":"2023-08-29T16:04:27","date_gmt":"2023-08-29T16:04:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/08\/29\/3m-agrees-to-pay-6b-to-settle-earplug-lawsuits\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:54:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:54:52","slug":"3m-agrees-to-pay-6b-to-settle-earplug-lawsuits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/08\/29\/3m-agrees-to-pay-6b-to-settle-earplug-lawsuits\/","title":{"rendered":"3M agrees to pay $6B to settle earplug lawsuits"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NEW YORK \u2014 Chemical and consumer product manufacturer 3M has agreed to pay $6 billion to settle numerous lawsuits from U.S. service members who say they experienced hearing loss or other serious injuries after using faulty earplugs made by the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The settlement, consisting of $5 billion in cash and $1 billion in 3M stock, will be made in payments that will run through 2029. The agreement announced by the Minnesota company on Tuesday marks a resolution to one of the largest mass torts in U.S. history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hundreds of thousands of veterans and current service members have reportedly sued 3M and Aearo Technologies, a company that 3M acquired in 2008, over their Combat Arms Earplug products. The service members alleged that a defective design allowed the products \u2014 which were intended to protect ears from close range firearms and other loud noises \u2014 to loosen slightly and allow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.awkolaw.com\/litigation-areas\/product-liability\/3m-defective-earplugs-lawsuit\/\">hearing damage<\/a>, according to Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis, &amp; Overholtz PLLC, one of the law firms representing plaintiffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an online summary about the Combat Arms Earplug litigation, the Florida-based law firm notes that 3M previously agreed to pay $9.1 million to settle a lawsuit on behalf of the government alleging the company knowingly supplied defective earplugs to the U.S. military. And since 2019, the firm added, 3M has lost 10 of 16 cases that have gone to trial \u2014 awarding millions of dollars to plaintiffs to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Associated Press reached out to Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis, &amp; Overholtz PLLC for comment on Tuesday\u2019s agreement. In a statement to <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bloomberglaw.com\/ip-law\/3m-to-pay-6-billion-to-resolve-vast-military-earplug-lawsuits#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThis%20historic%20agreement%20represents%20a,said%20in%20an%20emailed%20statement.\">to Bloomberg<\/a> and other news outlets, attorney Bryan Aylstock called the settlement a historic agreement and a \u201ctremendous victory for the thousands of men and women who bravely served our country and returned home with life-altering hearing injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Tuesday\u2019s announcement, 3M maintained that the agreement \u2014 which includes all claims in Florida\u2019s multi-district litigation, coordinated state court action in Minnesota, and potential future claims \u2014 was not an admission of liability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe products at issue in this litigation are safe and effective when used properly,\u201d the company wrote. \u201c3M is prepared to continue to defend itself in the litigation if certain agreed terms of the settlement agreement are not fulfilled.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">3M has previously tried to reduce exposure to the earplug litigation through bankruptcy court, the Wall Street Journal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/business\/3m-settlement-earplug-veteran-hearing-loss-26a3038f\">reported<\/a>. In 2022, Aearo filed for bankruptcy as a separate company, accepting responsibility for claims, but the filing was later dismissed in U.S. bankruptcy court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Beyond the earplug litigation, 3M in June agreed to pay <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/pfas-forever-chemicals-3m-drinking-water-81775af23d6aeae63533796b1a1d2cdb\">at least $10.3 billion<\/a> to settle lawsuits over contamination of many U.S. public drinking water systems with potentially harmful compounds. The deal would compensate water providers for pollution with per- and polyfluorinated substances, also known as \u201cforever chemicals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The agreement hasn\u2019t been finalized yet. Last month, 22 attorneys general <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/pfas-forever-chemicals-drinking-water-california-77a3ce6fd347d61cc8c486c447890a53\">urged a federal court<\/a> to reject the proposed settlement, saying it lets manufacturer 3M off too easily.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The agreement announced by the Minnesota company on Tuesday marks a resolution to one of the largest mass torts in U.S. history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":108916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":67,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,16,26,21,67],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1344],"class_list":["post-83740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-veterans","category-your-air-force"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"KPT544D4TZCOTAYLQ2FUACBEPY","arc_canonical_url":"\/industry\/2023\/08\/29\/3m-agrees-to-pay-6b-to-settle-earplug-lawsuits\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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