That is $58 million in 3M verdicts this weekend. Posted on July 15, 2021 in Class Actions, Consumer Law . But none that matter. Unrivaled. October 24, 2022 Update: 3M wants to pretend that Aearo is a separate company from 3M. (Anthony Souffle, Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS). The 3M earplug lawsuit is a class action lawsuit filed against the company 3M. So this is a roundabout way of saying I think the bulk of these suits will settle before the 11th Circuit rules later this year. But a global 3M earplug settlement after three days of negotiations seems unlikely. April 29, 2022 Update #2: A Florida jury awarded U.S. Army veteran Jonathan Vaughn $2.2 million. How Do You Qualify For A Earplug Lawsuit? This creates a problem not only for those more seriously injured but also for 3M. April 29, 2022 Update: Closing statements were given yesterday in Vaughn and the jury began to deliberate. So juries will not shoehorn 3M negligence and the victims hearing injury if the evidence does not support the claim. January 21, 2023 Update: This will surprise you if you read our last update. So what did they do? 3Ms Chief Legal Affairs Officer, Kevin Rhodes, claimed that the recent decision by the Bankruptcy Court rejecting 3Ms strategy was wrong and is being appealed directly to the Seventh Circuit. Eventually, 3M agreed to pay a $9.1 million settlement to the DOJ to resolve lawsuit allegations that it supplied the Pentagon with defective equipment and for failing to disclose the design flaw. Dr. Casali is the director of the Auditory Systems Laboratory at Virginia Tech and an expert in hearing loss and protection. 3M Earplug Lawsuit Upd (Mar 2023) Settlement Amounts After hearing closing arguments from both sides, the jury went back to deliberate the case after lunchtime on Friday, November 12. So a settlement in bankruptcy court might be the face-saving venue 3M needs. If the 3Ms appeal of the bankruptcy court decision is denied, however, this will all be moot. Will all these plaintiffs show up for their deposition? Judge Rodgers rejected this argument and denied the motion. May 18, 2022 Update: We stopped updating the trials and got so blowback from soldiers and former soldiers who wanted an update on the last bellwether trial. { Is The 3M Earplug Lawsuit Worth It? Berger was in the middle of every key piece of the relevant facts. We were following the Wilkerson trial more closely and the jury is out in that case and will likely issue its verdict on Monday. October 11, 2022 Update: The 3M earplug plaintiffs filed a motion in the MDL asking for summary judgment on whether 3M can be held solely and independently liable for the earplug injuries. 3M has consistently complained of difficulties in accessing so many claims. Sign up to receive a daily email of today's top military news stories from Stars and Stripes and top news outlets The filing this week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court is the latest turn in the legal war between 3M and over 200,000 veterans and current service members over 3Ms Combat Arms CAEv2, which were once standard military issue. If you have a potential claim, do not delay. Rodgers dismissed 3Ms claim that bogus plaintiffs are not being vetted, pointing out that 80,000 claimants have already been dismissed. They would not argue that. 3M agreed to pay $9.1 million to the government to settle the government's complaint. 3M also presented the jury with video deposition testimony clips from a handful of fact witnesses, including Heather Beal, the plaintiffs wife. But the verdict is unlikely to move the needle in settlement negotiations. "text": " We have learned that juries do not like what 3M did with these earplugs and they will award a great deal of money if they believed that negligence caused the victim tinnitus or hearing loss. " Rhodes then devoted the rest of his presentation to claiming that the settlement value of the earplug lawsuits should be $1 billion a paltry amount that would pay less than $5,000 to each plaintiff. It is a big differnce. We will likely find out on August 18, 2022, at the bankruptcy hearing. We have learned that juries do not like what 3M did with these earplugs and they will award a great deal of money if they believed that negligence caused the victim tinnitus or hearing loss. The motion argues that the stay should not apply to these suits because they do not involve claims of direct liability against Aearo. These earplugs cost 85 cents to make. Most of those soldiers were not protected by the defective earplugs and suffered permanent hearing loss. The more I think about this bankruptcy, the more I think it is going to backfire on 3M. "@type": "Question", Of the $29.4 million in total damages, 63% have been punitive damages (also referred to as exemplary damages) aimed at punishing 3M for fraud or gross negligence. Following the bankruptcy ruling, 3M is facing enormous external pressure from investors and financial analysts who tell them they have no choice but to capitulate by dropping all of the legal gamesmanship and offer reasonable settlement amounts to veterans who have suffered from these defective earplugs. 3M Earplug Lawsuit - October 14, 2022 Settlement Talks Update Mr. Berger is a retired scientist from 3Ms Personal Safety Division and an expert in audiology. K&E has been the primary defense firm in the earplug MDL. 3M's stock surges after company says DOD data show 90% of earplug If nothing else, it is good momentum going into the 3M earplug settlement talks set to being on July 15, 2022. But more saliently, the 3Ms maneuver to change the forum of litigation from civil trials to bankruptcy to avoid the wrath of juries raises the specter of abuse which must be guarded against to protect the integrity of the bankruptcy system the court highlighted in J&J talcum powder generated bankruptcy. It is not. The judge in the earplugs MDL, Casey Rodgers, pushed back on 3M and its lawyers at a hearing on Wednesday. The mediators in bankruptcy court report that good faith negotiations are ongoing, and settlement negotiations will occur formally next month. 3M Makes Misleading Claim that 90% if Earplug Plaintiffs Have No This insultingly low amount would net each plaintiff a mere $5,000. Both trials are scheduled to last two weeks and then more 3M earplug lawsuits are set to go to trial in April and May. Will Filing a 3M Earplug Lawsuit Affect My Disability? Our attorneys only get a fee if you get compensation. 3M has used him as an expert in all bellwether trials. Judge Rodgers stopped short of granting summary judgment on the statute of limitations defense and deferred ruling on that issue until the relevant facts have been presented at trial. Judge Rodgers granted the plaintiffs motions for judgment on several issues including mitigation, comparative fault, and 3Ms statute of limitations defense. Judge Rodgers stuck the motion as improper, chastising 3M that the court docket is not a repository for lawyers to preview future litigation strategies.. Judge Rodgers denied that motion. Here is the money quote, quoting University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias: $466 million is a lot of money to spend on lawyers and defense costs, not to mention the reputation harm theyre doing to themselves with all these trial losses.. But this is the last of the 3M earplug bellwether trials. If you follow the history of mass tort settlements, there is no question that this moment seems opportune for a global settlement deal in the 3M litigation. August 10, 2022 Update: Wait, do we need Aearo in these cases? This is because 3M did not give precise specifications or even have a real contract with the military to provide these earplugs. McKinley has testified in all the previous bellwether trials, although this is the longest time he has spent on the stand. Then suddenly the system is broken. April 7, 2022 Update: 3M presented two expert witnesses on Day 7: Jennifer LaBorde and Dr. John Casali. On the 3rd day of trial, the plaintiffs presented the testimony of Elliott Berger. This was comparable to the compensatory damage awards in prior bellwether cases. 3M rises on report saying Pentagon data show no hearing loss among We think this is an effort by Judge Rodgers to facilitate continued settlement negotiations between 3M and the plaintiffs by giving everyone involved in the litigation a better idea of the scope and nature of the 268,000 hearing loss claims currently on the table. The motion argues that Wilkerson failed to establish that his hearing loss was caused by the 3M earplugs. July 18, 2022 Update: There was no global settlement in the 3M class action earplug lawsuit this weekend. Posted on October 27, 2021 in Class Actions . The primary theme of the presentation was that both sides have adopted different ways of interpreting the data regarding the hearing loss claims asserted by the plaintiffs. Fallow is an audiologist and Technical Senior Service, Specialist. Our lawyers looked at the applicable law and believed the plaintiffs would defeat this argument. 3Ms big defense, that they seemed confident would succeed, to end these cases before they began was asserting that all claims are preempted by the Feres doctrine. I am always saying these are big earplug trials. Blog Home. He played a key role in the Sloan/Wayman trial that ended in a $110 million verdict against 3M. Data Day is when both parties in a class action lawsuit come together to exchange and review large volumes of electronic data and information that is relevant to the case. 3M has appealed Grahams decision, while plaintiffs have asked Graham to dismiss the Aearo bankruptcy. This is good news for 3M. McKinley has been a prominent witness in all of the previous bellwether trials. Last week, the MDL judge granted a summary judgment motion by Beal, which effectively blocks 3M from presenting nearly all of their affirmative defenses, including contributory negligence. This is the first step in the hopes of a favorable global military hearing protection settlement with 3M that would give most victims a reasonable amount of money without ever having to go to court. The judge also provided 3M with a harsh truth: Though [300,000 lawsuits] may be a tough pill to swallow, the numbers are what they are.. This latest admonishment came after 3Ms lawyers sought to defy long-standing procedural rules regarding deposition designations. If you miss the statute of limitations, you will not be able to get a settlement for the harm that has been done to you. Judge Rodgers pointed out that she told juries that the companies were one and the same without any objection from defense lawyers. The story which is behind a paywall, of course offers a general overview of the earplug lawsuits against 3M and an explanation of how the massive size of the litigation could end up costing 3M billions in liabilities. That might be a problem for 3M. Plaintiffs attorneys also filed an 84-page motion seeking to exclude or limit testimony from all of 3Ms expert witnesses going into Wave 3 of the trial cases. 3M claims the earplugs were safe. Meanwhile, 3Ms appeal of the bankruptcy court ruling rejecting its strategy is on appeal to the 7th Circuit. Specifically, we would like your opinion on. Meanwhile, the huge verdict is bringing in more new soldiers who otherwise may have never heard of the claims. 3M Earplug Lawsuit Update: 3M is 0 for 3 After Losing $7.1 Million It is all upside for you. Im not sure that many understand the successor liability issue and how it may impede 3Ms efforts to hide behind bankruptcy laws to shield itself from liability no matter how the 7th Circuit rules. There is a lot of speculation that the trial was pushed back to allow settlement talks to continue. ). July 30, 2022: In a recently filed brief, 3M argued that its new bankruptcy strategy was necessary and justified because it claims that the earplugs MDL proceeding is broken beyond repair. 3M argued that the earplugs MDL is overrun with bogus claims by plaintiffs who are not being vetted and dismissed from the case. Our 3M earplug lawsuit attorneys get calls and online inquiries about this litigation every single day. No one knows, and the average value is impossible to estimate. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Ultimately, the earplug plaintiffs will get a global settlement one way or the other. So hiring another lawyer is unlikely to speed up the path to a 3M earplug settlement. The claimants in this MDL are all veterans who have fought and sacrificed their lives for the sake of the country's honor. In cases where an MDL judge believes the claims have merit, the judge always wants a successful resolution to the litigation and that means a settlement. But if you have yet to speak to a lawyer about your case, now is the time. First, it's important to note that the circumstances of each of the thousands of cases vary greatly. Blog Home. Court Declares 3M Earplug Lawsuit Settlement Efforts at an "Impasse Dr. Packer told the jury that Sloan and Wayman suffered hearing damage during their time in the Army as a direct result of defects in the 3M Combat Arms earplugs. That plan has not worked. By 5:30 the jury had decided that Palanki failed to prove any of his claims against 3M and returned a defense verdict. Judge Rodgers explained that both sides are entrenched in their respective data metrics and that this has been the primary roadblock to getting a global settlement done. Is The 3m Earplug Lawsuit Worth It - StaySafeDiary Many veterans who call us wonder if the 3M cases are legit or if this is some scam. July 26, 2022 Update: 3M is trying to play the bankruptcy card, placing Aearo into bankruptcy. The trial is set for two weeks. The 7th Circuit panel found that the appeal warranted immediate review because of the large number of people it could impact and the critical precedent the decision will set. A ruling on this key issue wont happen until at least August 18, 2022. "text": " As self-serving as it is to say, our lawyers get this question constantly. Thousands of veterans and current military service members may be entitled to receive financial compensation in the 3M earplug lawsuit for hearing loss and tinnitus caused by defective earplugs. We get it. Department of Defense Data Reveals No Hearing Loss Among Vast Majority The verdict was reduced as expected because Waymans case is governed by Colorado law and the $55 million exceeded Colorados statute damages cap. You would not think these mediators one who was also a mediator in the 3M MDL would contradict a federal judge unless they had hoped a settlement was on the horizon. (Even more bizarrely, the judge trying Beal is the Zantac MDL judge, and this same law firm is defending Zantac lawsuits). They disagree with Judge Rodgers assessment that settlement talks will not be fruitful. In ordering 3M to pay Adkins $8.2 million in damages, the Florida jury found that not only were 3M's Combat Arms earplugs defectively . Judge Rodgers ruled that KY law does not allow prejudgment interest on awards for bodily harm.. May 20, 2022: $77.5 Million Verdict! The global settlement value the resolution of almost all claims at one time would likely be less because you rarely get trial value in a mass tort settlement. November 1, 2022 Update: Judge Rodgers said last week that monthly settlement talks must resume. The plan is for these 20,197 earplug lawsuits to go through pretrial discovery a daunting process with such a massive group of plaintiffs. July 11, 2022: The one thing we do not want to do in a 3M earplug settlement is minimize the differences between the strength of the claims in the final settlement amounts. This ruling could knock the bankruptcy issue out of play. May 11, 2022 Update: The 3M MDL class action judge dismissed over 20,000 cases because the plaintiffs failed to produce documentation (mostly official military service records) required to support their claims. Hopefully, 3M will offer reasonable settlement amounts to these plaintiffs and thousands next month before a ruling is needed. This is after Judge Rodgers told us earlier in the week that there was a settlement impasse because 3M sought to resolve earplug lawsuits through the bankruptcy proceedings in Indiana, and the plaintiffs lawyers reject a bankruptcy-only resolution. But the mediators report that they respectfully disagree with the characterization of certain of the facts that underlie Judge Rodgers conclusion. Yesterday, Judge Rodgers refused to grant 3M permission to file a sur-reply. 3M Says Pentagon Data Show No Hearing Loss Among Most Plaintiffs in October 7, 2022 Update: 3M stock lost billions of dollars in value yesterday. Oh, and 3M stock is down 10% on the news, its worst day in three years. 3Ms lawyers know it will not be granted. Scores of lawsuits filed by service members soon followed. Our lawyers are handling 3M earplug lawsuits in all 50 states. Our lawyers are handling these cases. If anything will push 3M to offer reasonable individual settlement amounts in the earplug lawsuits, it will be pressure from Wall Street for 3M to take its lumps and wrap up this litigation. However, none of these issues will matter if the 11th Circuit rejects 3Ms appeal of the bankruptcy court ruling. September 1, 2022: 3M noted its appeal of the bankruptcy ruling on Monday. What You Need to Know About the 3m Earplug Lawsuit When will the 3M earplug lawsuit settle? Suing for 3M Military Earplug Injuries | Nolo There is some interesting perspective in the comments below from soldiers plaintiffs in the 3M earplug lawsuits. Our thinking, and it is just our lawyers speculation, is that 3M executives want to keep delaying taking that hit in the stock price and the pain that will come with that. "How do I qualify for a 3M earplug lawsuit?" 3M earplugs were standard-issue equipment intended to protect service members from hearing loss. How Much Longer Will 3M Earplug Lawsuit Take? Blog Home. The defense data demonstrates that approximately 85% of plaintiffs suffer from hearing loss or tinnitus, lead plaintiffs attorneys Bryan Aylstock and Chris Seeger said in a news statement. This is good. Judge Rodgers explained that the presentation will help educate plaintiffs lawyers not on the leadership committees about the nature and scope of the claims. February 20, 2023 Update: New 3M earplug cases continue to get filed in large numbers. The most shocking aspect of the Camarillorazo verdict was the fact that the jury found that 3M acted with fraud, malice, or gross negligence and awarded $12,245,925 in punitive damages. So this is excellent news, right? October 14, 2022 Update: The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed to an expedited review of 3Ms appeal seeking to reverse the bankruptcy court decision in Indiana. The motion argues that the stay should not apply to these cases because they do not involve claims of direct liability against Aearo. Back to the settlement table. December 23, 2022 Update: The MDL Judge has imposed a significant sanction on 3M blocking it from pursuing the Aearo bankruptcy. The metric favored by 3M would result in a very large percentage of plaintiffs (as high as 85%) being classified as having no injury and excluded from any settlement. Contributory negligence will not be at issue in this trial as Judge Rodgers granted summary judgment on that issue to the plaintiff earlier this month. Why? Dr. Crawford is an ENT doctor and hearing protection specialist. This is not a deadline you can miss. Now is the time to do the right thing. Indeed, the expected average individual settlement amount is rising based on these three verdicts. What does this mean? We are off to a good start. 3M is a historically significant company, a piece of America. March 2, 2023 Update: We wrote a separate post on the 3M estimation motion that announced most plaintiffs suffered no injury. 3M hit with $8.2 million verdict in fourth military earplug trial You can also get a free online consultation. Overview of the 3M Earplugs Litigation After the announcement in July 2018 that 3M paid the DOJ $9.2 to settle the qui tam lawsuits alleging that it sold defective earplugs to Army, thousands of veterans who had been living with hearing damage began filing product liability lawsuits against 3M. So if you are sitting on the sidelines and have not brought a 3M earplug lawsuit but are considering it, now is the time to act. Getting the 3M litigation into the mainstream media has oddly been a struggle given there are 300,000 soldiers bringing claims. December 23, 2022 Update: MDL Judge Casey Rodgers brought down a mighty hammer on 3M yesterday afternoon. The law firm of White & Case was also brought in to help advise 3M on the chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding for its subsidiary, Aearo Technologies. The vast majority of those are consolidated before U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rogers in the Northern District of Florida, in the largest multidistrict litigation in history. 3M has been wearing rose-colored glasses from Day 1 of this litigation. March 22, 2022 Update: Plaintiff Steven Wilkerson closed his case yesterday and 3M immediately filed a motion for judgment as a matter of law. Judge Rodgers points out that 3M had many opportunities over the last 4-years to assert the Aearo successor liability argument, but chose not to. You can reach our earplug lawyers at 800-553-8082 for a free consultation. So they keep kicking the can down the road while hoping for a miracle from the 11th Circuit. Aearo wanted to hire Kirkland & Ellis as bankruptcy counsel. A Tallahassee jury awarded the plaintiff $13.1 million in damages. Sloans claims are governed by Kentucky law. In one of the largest U.S. mass torts, 3M faces over 200,000 lawsuits in U.S. District Court in northern Florida. All Rights Reserved. Need an attorney for the 3M Earplug Lawsuit? The Court has already agreed to expedite the appeal. August 25, 2022 Update: Today, Judge Rodgers ruled on a 3M Emergency Motion for a Stay Pending Appeal. But is the number 75% or 90%? Lets assume there are 200,000 legitimate cases, and the average settlement payout is $100,000 per person. Berger was one of the people directly involved in the original design and testing of the 3M earplugs at issue in the lawsuits and he has been a critical witness in all of the cases. January 7, 2023 Update: 3M reports spending $450 million in attorneys fees defending the 3M earplug lawsuit. Blog Home. 3M put all of its hopes in a contrived bankruptcy scheme that two federal judges have already rejected. Is that point already apparent to everyone? During that presentation, Judge Rodgers noted that the data was subject to multiple interpretations and that 3M has chosen to interpret it in a way that is most advantageous to its position. But he noted that a conflict could arise in the future and that K&E was navigating a minefield.. Listen, Im not a financial analyst. Rhodes labeled the decision as wrong and noted that 3Ms appeal has been sent directly to the 7th Circuit. May 17, 2022: Lets get you up to speed on what is happening in the Beal trial. These court-ordered settlement talks are the brightest glimmer of hope we have had for veterans to get reasonable settlement amounts in the foreseeable future. The earplug litigation is by far the largest mass tort in history. In her 22-page opinion, Judge Rogers explains how 3M actively litigated the earplug cases for 4 years during which it held itself out as the sole responsible party and never asserted that Aearo was the responsible party: Scorched earth battle was waged against every theory of liability alleged in this litigation. The bankruptcy stay will immediately relieve that pressure and give 3M more leverage in the negotiations. Berger, as every reader of these updates knows, is a former 3M audiology scientist and head of the 3M Personal Safety Division. "@type": "Answer", It is. However, the most recent summary judgment motion has a much better chance of success. But the MDL Judge flatly rejected the motion and criticized 3Ms lawyers for even bothering to file it. Last week, the MDL judge granted a motion filed by Beal which effectively blocks 3Ms defense team from presenting their contributory negligence and other affirmative defenses at trial. Getting this class action down to the soldiers who were truly harmed will advance an earplug settlement. So when will the 3M earplug lawsuit settle? Veterans agree. We think this may be an effort by Judge Rodgers to keep the door open for further settlement negotiations as things play in the appellate courts. If 3M foolishly continues to try these cases, the compensation payouts in this litigation will likely soar. I thought the jury verdicts would do it. The biggest roadblock to a mass settlement with 3M at this point is the raw number of plaintiffs (290,779 before the recent dismissals).