IN RE: 3M COMBAT ARMS EARPLUG PRODUCTS LIABILITY LITIGATION

  1. February 11, 2021

    Experts' Views On Army Practices Limited In 3M Earplug MDL

    A Florida federal judge on Thursday said there's no support for experts' opinions that the U.S. Army's hearing program was either a complete success or a total failure at protecting military members' hearing in the multidistrict litigation over allegedly defective 3M earplugs.

  2. January 19, 2021

    Plaintiffs Prevail On Choice Of Law For 3M Earplug MDL Trials

    The Florida federal judge overseeing multidistrict litigation brought by service members and veterans who allege that defective 3M earplugs damaged their hearing sided with two plaintiffs on which states' laws should apply in their upcoming bellwether trials.

  3. January 11, 2021

    Meet The Judge Overseeing The Nation's Largest MDL

    A Florida native who rose to the federal bench before she turned 40, U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers is set to oversee a bellwether trial this spring in a case involving hundreds of thousands of service members and accusations of faulty military-issue earplugs.

  4. January 04, 2021

    Trial Dates Set For Spring In 3M Earplug MDL

    The Florida federal judge overseeing litigation brought by service members and veterans who allege defective 3M earplugs damaged their hearing recently consolidated three cases for a bellwether trial and set two other dates in individual cases.

  5. December 09, 2020

    Service Members Want Single Bellwether In 3M Earplug MDL

    Five military members and veterans who blame their hearing damage on allegedly defective 3M earplugs urged a Florida federal judge on Monday to group their bellwether cases for a single trial, saying their cases "involve overlapping, and frequently coextensive, issues and facts."

  6. October 02, 2020

    Judge In MDL Won't Send 3M Earplug Claims To Minn.

    A Florida federal judge denied for a second time a bid from military veterans to send their suits over allegedly defective 3M earplugs back to Minnesota state court, saying neither this group's "novel" arguments nor her recent rejection of one of the company's defenses makes the federal forum inappropriate.

  7. July 27, 2020

    3M Can't Duck Earplug Suit With Gov't Contract Preemption

    A Florida federal judge has ruled that 3M Co. can't escape allegations that it sold defective earplugs by arguing its government contract preempts those claims, saying the company has failed to show the military exercised any real control over the earplugs' design.

  8. July 17, 2020

    3M Can't Get Unredacted Info From DOD In Earplug MDL

    A Florida magistrate judge on Friday denied a bid by 3M Co. to get full, unredacted medical records for three bellwether plaintiffs in multidistrict litigation over alleged health complications tied to the use of its Combat Arms earplugs, saying the records on their mental health aren't relevant to the "garden variety" claims of emotional distress.

  9. July 02, 2020

    3M Wants DOD Employees, Data In Defective Earplug MDL

    3M Co. told a Florida federal judge it has no choice but to seek to compel six U.S. Department of Defense employees to give deposition and the department to produce data in multidistrict litigation over the company's earplugs, which are said to have caused users in the military to develop tinnitus and suffer hearing loss.

  10. April 02, 2020

    3M Can't Pin Defective Earplugs On Gov't, Military Users Say

    3M Co. can't argue that a government contract preemption gives it clearance to exit a suit over its allegedly defective earplugs, a group of military members told a Florida federal court Wednesday, because the earplugs were also advertised for civilian use.