{"id":75100,"date":"2022-12-30T23:04:34","date_gmt":"2022-12-30T23:04:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/12\/30\/judge-says-3m-cant-escape-liability-in-earplug-lawsuits\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:21:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:21:55","slug":"judge-says-3m-cant-escape-liability-in-earplug-lawsuits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2022\/12\/30\/judge-says-3m-cant-escape-liability-in-earplug-lawsuits\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge says 3M can\u2019t escape liability in earplug lawsuits"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Editor\u2019s note: This story has been updated at 7:50am EDT Aug. 29 to reflect the timeline of the 2018 settlement.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A federal judge recently told 3M that it may not use \u201cbad faith manipulation\u201d to avoid its responsibility in a slew of cases against the multinational conglomerate for its allegedly defective earplugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a sharply worded order<\/a> issued on Dec. 22, U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers, the Pensacola, Florida-based judge where the nearly 250,000 lawsuits against 3M are being overseen, said the company deserved the \u201charshest penalty\u201d for its effort to shift liability for hearing damage suffered by veterans to a subsidiary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c3M purposely engaged in a nearly four-year campaign to establish itself as the sole responsible party for [earplug] claims, then abruptly reversed course when that narrative no longer suited its strategic objectives,\u201d Rodgers wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the judge\u2019s order, 3M\u2019s recent move came after it already awarded nearly $300,000,000 to 13 plaintiffs over the course of 16 \u201cbellwether trials.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lead lawyers for the plaintiffs, Bryan Aylstock and Chris Seeger, in a joint statement welcomed the ruling, Reuters reported.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe applaud Judge Rodger[s\u2019] order, which shuts the door on 3M\u2019s duplicitous, bad faith attempt to shift blame…in service of its contrived bankruptcy maneuver,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In August, an attempt by 3M to have one of its subsidiaries, Aearo Technologies LLC, declare bankruptcy was denied by an Indiana bankruptcy judge, Military Times previously reported. This meant the company would not be allowed to halt litigation against it and let Aearo Tech take the fall for one of the largest multidistrict litigations in U.S. history.<\/p>\n\n\n\t