IN RE: 3M COMBAT ARMS EARPLUG PRODUCTS LIABILITY LITIGATION

  1. October 28, 2022

    Judge Calls Attys' MDL Criticism 'Deceptive Public Posturing'

    A Florida federal judge defended her oversight of the massive 3M Combat Arms Earplugs multidistrict litigation against attorneys' criticism that the process is "broken," calling those comments "overzealous and deceptive public posturing" in an order imposing a stay on the wave and transition process.

  2. October 26, 2022

    3M Can't Get New Trial After $50M Earplug Injury Verdict

    3M was denied a new trial after a jury awarded a veteran Green Beret $50 million in his suit alleging the company's Combat Arms earplugs gave him tinnitus and hearing loss, with a Florida federal judge ruling Tuesday the verdict is "substantially supported" by the trial evidence.

  3. October 24, 2022

    3M Experts Can't Blame Drugs For Hearing Loss, Judge Says

    The Florida federal judge presiding over multidistrict litigation against 3M over allegedly faulty earplugs on Monday excluded certain defense testimony from the company's experts ahead of trial, citing scientifically unsupported or irrelevant medical opinions regarding prescription or illegal drugs causing hearing loss.

  4. October 19, 2022

    3M Says Plaintiffs Can't Bar Defense In Earplug MDL

    A Florida federal judge has been asked by 3M Co. to reject a request that she block the company from arguing a now-bankrupt subsidiary is liable for damages caused by allegedly defective earplugs, saying the request ignores significant differences in state law.

  5. October 06, 2022

    3M Wants To Shake Veterans' Suit Over Spinoff Plans

    Veterans seeking to block 3M Co.'s spinoff of its health care business are engaged in a "rogue lawsuit" to try to "gain leverage over 3M" in separate multidistrict litigation, the company said.

  6. September 02, 2022

    Veterans Look To Block 3M's Planned Health Care Spinoff

    A pair of military veterans have asked a Florida federal court to shut down 3M's plans to spin off its health care assets, arguing that would give billions of dollars to shareholders while leaving tort claimants suing 3M over allegedly faulty earplugs hanging out to dry.

  7. August 26, 2022

    Bankruptcy Court Won't Shield 3M From Earplug Claims

    An Indiana bankruptcy court refused to temporarily shield 3M from hundreds of thousands of veterans' claims that its earplugs caused them hearing loss, ruling Friday that the company couldn't benefit from its subsidiary's bankruptcy protections.

  8. August 16, 2022

    Fla. Judge Blocks 3M From Relitigating MDL In Aearo's Ch. 11

    A Florida federal judge on Tuesday blocked 3M Co. from using a subsidiary's bankruptcy to relitigate issues that have already been resolved in multidistrict litigation over its allegedly faulty earplugs, but deferred to the bankruptcy judge on the question of whether to extend an automatic stay to 3M.

  9. August 10, 2022

    3M Says MDL Injunction Bid Would Wrongly Usurp Bankruptcy

    3M Co. has hit back at a plaintiff's bid to block the company from allegedly using a subsidiary's bankruptcy proceeding to rehash issues from multidistrict litigation over faulty combat earplugs, saying it was an "improper collateral attack" on the bankruptcy court's jurisdiction.

  10. August 05, 2022

    Scouts' Plan Mostly Approved, Jones Hit With $50M Verdicts

    The Boy Scouts of America got a court's nod for the linchpin of its $2.7 billion Chapter 11 plan, the defamation damages trial of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his bankrupt media enterprise resulted in nearly $50 million in damages, and customers of cryptocurrency platform Voyager Digital can withdraw their cash from custodial accounts. This is the week in bankruptcy.