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. In one of the largest U.S. mass torts, 3M faces over 200,000 lawsuits in U.S. District Court in northern Florida. 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. So what did they do? The claims would then be sent to their home federal court districts for trial. The pressure on 3M to offer reasonable settlement amounts and get the bulk of the 288,000 and climbing lawsuits settled has increased with the last big verdict. A federal jury on Thursday awarded $110 million to two U.S. Army veterans who said they had hearing damage because of combat earplugs produced by the . Both Fallon and Crawford also spent over 20 years in the Army. Specifically, Rodgers quoted 3Ms announcement regarding the bankruptcy proceeding that it wanted to efficiently and equitably resolve the earplug claims as evidence that 3M is now highly motivated to settle. February 6, 2023 Update: The Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of Indiana will hold a Status Conference next week on the recent Motion to Dismiss filed by the 3M earplug plaintiffs. That is incredible. Just last week the MDL Judge held a data day to review the DOD medical data. Rogers issued an Order (3M Sanctions Order) imposing unprecedented sanctions on 3M for what she described as a brazen abuse of the litigation process. The sanction expressly prohibits 3M from attempting to avoid any liability for the earplug claims by shifting blame to its Aearo Technologies subsidiary (which is now in bankruptcy). May 9, 2022: The last 3M earplug bellwether trial begins today for Army veteran James Beal. On Monday, a jury was picked and the parties gave opening statements. September 1, 2022 Update: Here we go again. 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. The jury found in favor of Camarillorazo on all 7 of his tort claims and apportioned 100% of the fault on 3M. What to know about the 3M Earplug lawsuit Claimant awarded $50 million by 3M for suffering hearing damage after using combat earplugs More than 280,000 former and current army veterans suffered from hearing loss and severe tinnitus. The executives at 3M that decided to buy Aearo Technologies need to accept this mistake and move on. March 3, 2022 Update: We are now 11 days from the next trial on the Steve Wilkerson case, an Afghanistan veteran. Judge Rodgers forced 3M to participate in a settlement mediation just over a month ago, and she was less than thrilled when 3M launched its bankruptcy strategy immediately after the mediation concluded. Dr. Crawford is an ENT doctor specializing in hearing protection. This doctrine arose from the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Feres v. the United States. His reasons for the denial were articulated by the Judge from the bench during the trial. Judge Rodgers just recently required the parties to take part in a settlement conference in July, and she was highly irritated when learned that 3M was preparing to launch its bankruptcy strategy the whole time. It means 3Ms bankruptcy gambit failed as I predicted from the beginning. 2023 Stars and Stripes. But this will get the number of claims down. Can I Fire My Lawyer and Hire You? 3M is facing more than 240,000 claims by veterans and service members over the earplugs, known as Combat Arms Earplugs Version 2. This victory for 3M follows its biggest loss in the earplug bellwether trials. It means the appeal will be heard faster than it was sent through the usual channels. December 23, 2022 Update: The MDL Judge has imposed a significant sanction on 3M blocking it from pursuing the Aearo bankruptcy. 3M has appealed Grahams decision, while plaintiffs have asked Graham to dismiss the Aearo bankruptcy. The jury still awarded $2.2 million. I also understand that Miller & Zois works with multiple law firms on these claims and that I may be contacted by an affiliated law firm working with Miller & Zois on these lawsuits. All you need to do is provide a small bit of information. This is the largest MDL in history. May 4, 2022: Yesterday, the 3M earplug MDL judge issued a new Case Management Order (CMO # 44) ordering 20,197 earplug lawsuits in the MDL to be moved from the administrative docket onto the active docket. And it is the right time for 3M to settle these cases. Personal Injury Leaders start your consultation NO FEE UNTIL WE WIN! Plaintiffs have always wanted to settle these lawsuits. Not surprisingly, 3Ms self-serving interpretation of the DOD data is highly flawed and the claim that 90% of the plaintiffs have no hearing loss is grossly misleading. Settling these cases is sure to be complex. Nearly four years ago, in January 2019, an earplug victims attorney filed a motion asking the U.S. Is that point already apparent to everyone? The supplier warned the U.S. of the danger associated with the equipment that only the supplier knew of. Hard to believe that would be a risk worth taking. Judge Rodgers granted a defense motion requiring plaintiffs who have not complied with court orders to produce basic information to show cause why their case should not be dismissed. With a slight pause as we switch to the Group D set of trials, we will see if 3M sees the wisdom in stopping the bleeding and offers soldiers reasonable settlement amounts. A federal jury awarded $110 million to two U.S. Army veterans who said 3M earplugs caused them to suffer hearing damage. Im sorry for all the rhetorical questions. Settlement talks are set for February 2023, as we explain in the January 20, 2023 update above. The claimants in this MDL are all veterans who have fought and sacrificed their lives for the sake of the country's honor. The Order appoints Randi S. Ellis as the special master to oversee the negotiations and required that the mediation last a minimum of three days and be scheduled by July 15, 2022. March 2, 2023 Update: We wrote a separate post on the 3M estimation motion that announced most plaintiffs suffered no injury. Now it may be time for Plan B: a comprehensive, and still costly, settlement process for US soldiers who claim hearing damage.. The gist of the argument is that any difference between the two companies is pure form over substance. 3M put its Aearo Technologies subsidiary, where the earplug product originated, into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as one effort to resolve Combat Arms claims. All Rights Reserved. The new deadline for Aearos brief is now December 12, 2022. 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. Until 3M sought to assert such a defense, Judge Rodgers found that granting the motion would be premature. But if you have yet to speak to a lawyer about your case, now is the time. One small problemEleven out of 13 jury verdicts in favor of soldiers would fall into 3Ms not harmed category. He spoke to the jury about the hearing injuries suffered. The trial was held at the federal courthouse in Pensacola, but it was presided over by a visiting judge from the Northern District of Alabama. Need an attorney for the 3M Earplug Lawsuit? Settlement is still an uphill slog. May 10, 2022 Update: Yesterday marked the beginning of the end of the 3M earplug lawsuit bellwether trials. It might involve settlements for the lawsuit inventory of specific law firms, as opposed to a global settlement for all plaintiffs. 3M also argues that punitive damages should be off the table. 3M has been wearing rose-colored glasses from Day 1 of this litigation. The fear of this kind of damage averaging is larger claims will get settlement offers that undervalue their claims. Has Anyone Received a Settlement In the 3M Earplug Lawsuit? Is that a lot of money? 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. But didnt that already happen this weekend? Still, Judge Rodges deemed the mediation worthwhile and productive The court-appointed mediator is scheduling another mediation session within the next 14 days. August 17, 2022 Update: On Sunday, Judge Casey Rodgers issued an Order denying the recent motion by the earplug plaintiffs asking her to rule that 3M has sole liability for the earplug claims and has waived any successor liability defense. Acting through its puppet subsidiary Aero Technologies, 3M has asked that the judge in Aeros chapter 11 bankruptcy, Hon. The size of the punitive damage award, in this case, exposes the potential vulnerability of 3M in these cases. That bankruptcy was admittedly different in some ways. Rogers hit 3M with this unprecedented sanction for what she described as 3Ms brazen abuse of the litigation process. The sanction prevents 3M from avoiding liability for the earplug claims by shifting blame to Aearo Technologies, the subsidiary which filed bankruptcy in August. A trial scheduled for next month was dismissed, because the veteran's injury was "unrelated to noise-induced. The cases were consolidated in the Northern District of Florida under Judge M. Casey Rodgers. If you have a potential claim, do not delay. Years to run their course is a hard pill to swallow. 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. February 22, 2023 Update: The judge in the 3M earplug MDL has scheduled a Data Day tomorrow, at which time Brown Greer, the third-party claims administrator for the MDL, will make a presentation outlining information about the thousands of hearing loss claims pending against 3M in the litigation. Rodgers used 3Ms public statements in support of the bankruptcy plan as justification for the settlement mediation redo. 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. This award brings the total amount of damages in the bellwether trials to $300 million. Why? You should be optimistic because Judge Rodgers is right the lawyers and parties know more about the strengths and weaknesses of this litigation than any other piece of litigation in America. July 5, 2022: Settlement talks are now just ten days away. There is also reason to be pessimistic. October 14, 2022 Update: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit has agreed to an expedited review of 3Ms appeal of the bankruptcy court decision that effectively blocked 3M from pulling the 230,000 earplug lawsuits into bankruptcy. ", There is often turmoil on losing teams. September 20, 2022 Update: The settlement news yesterday was good. Product Negligence and Defective Design Lawyer | Personal Injury Attorney. It is dragging the process out a little bit. 3M was aware that the dual-ended Combat Arms earplugs were a defective product but failed to disclose this to the military. There is a real possibility this bankruptcy which drove 3Ms stock price through the roof when it was announced is much ado about nothing. 3M has used him as an expert in all bellwether trials. Meanwhile, 3Ms appeal of the bankruptcy court ruling rejecting its strategy is on appeal to the 7th Circuit. Most of the opening 2 days of the trial were devoted to the testimony of bioacoustics engineer Richard McKinley. So 3M is putting all of its eggs in the basket of a successful bankruptcy appeal and winning the successor liability appeal of the sanctions imposed by Judge Rodgers. Anyone who served in the military from 2003 to 2015 and suffered permanent hearing damage has a potential product liability lawsuit against the earplug manufacturer. ", Plaintiffs lawyers contend in this brief and throughout this litigation that 3M is not a government contractor entitled to protection under the Feres Doctrine. There are currently about 233,000 cases in the MDL (down from the high of 282,902) and these cases will soon be returned to their home districts for trial in massive blocks of 500 lawsuits at a time. The new players on 3Ms legal team include Steven Reich, a former Justice Department official who was hired as 3Ms new chief counsel for risk management. Jury verdicts and reported settlement amounts in other tinnitus or hearing loss cases suggest an average individual settlement compensation from $50,000 to $300,000 in compensation. But 3M is viewed as risky stock right now, which is not where it wants to be. The WSJ article could prove to be a turning point in the litigation because it is the first time the 3M earplug lawsuits have received top-level attention from a major media outlet. Yesterday, however, Judge Graham pushed the hearing date back to April. So they didnt buy Aearo planning to one day flip it into bankruptcy. "@type": "Answer", To help push the settlement negotiations, Judge Rodgers appointed Randi S. Ellis as the special master for the mediation. In the meantime, however, the MDL judge has issued a general stay of all events and deadlines in the MDL. But the MDL Judge flatly rejected the motion and criticized 3Ms lawyers for even bothering to file it. Judge Rodgers stated that a perfectly solvent defendant such as 3M should not be entitled to bankruptcy protection simply because the MDL is not going the way it wants. Beal was awarded $77.5 million! What Is Going on Now With the 3M Earplug Lawsuit in January 2023? You can call us at 800-553-8082. 3M is most likely going to lose this appeal, and the sooner that happens, the sooner meaningful progress on a global settlement can occur. This information is included in Aearo's estimation motion filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Indianapolis. But the per-person payouts must be high enough to entice victims to settle. James M. Carr, be appointed as a second mediator in the MDL settlement mediation. In addition to agreeing to hear the 3M bankruptcy appeal on an expedited basis, the 11th Circuit also granted 3Ms request to stay an order by earplug MDL Judge Casey Rodgers, which blocked 3M from challenging her MDL rulings in the Aero bankruptcy proceeding. Too many lawyers have filed 3M earplug lawsuits without making sure their clients have a viable claim. In her Order, Judge Rodgers explained that the purpose of the data day is to educate those outside of leadership roles in the MDL about the nature and scope of the hearing-related claims in this litigation.. Casali has testified in previous bellwether trials. This ongoing dispute between Judge Rodgers and 3Ms defense attorneys wont impact the outcome of the Beal trial. 3M did cancel some Wave 3 depositions and the judge ordered 3M to pay the attorneys fees and costs associated with the cancellation. The strategy has been to kick the can down the road. 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. The likelihood of 3M succeeding with the statute of limitations defense now or later down the line is almost zero, so this decision is almost a complete victory for Wilkerson. February 23, 2023 Update: Judge Rodgers held the 3M earplug data day as planned this morning, which featured comments from the bench and a 90-minute presentation from the third-party claims administrator. 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. If the best cases do not receive settlement offers commensurate with the harm done to them, those plaintiffs will just reject the settlement amounts offered and opt to go to trial. September 7, 2022 Update:After being forced back to another mediation following the rejection of its questionable bankruptcy strategy, 3M is now seeking to have its puppet subsidiary take part in the mediation and involve the bankruptcy judge in that mediation. That might be a problem for 3M. Under the metric endorsed by 3M, nearly 85% of the plaintiffs have no evidence of hearing loss and should be excluded from any settlement. November 24, 2022 Update: 3M subsidiary Aearo Technologies was recently granted an extension of the deadline to file its appeal brief in the 7th Circuit. March 21, 2022 Update:The current bellwether trial is proceeding on schedule and should conclude at the end of this week with a final verdict hopefully coming Friday afternoon. But with these three trials completed, it is hard to say what will get 3M in more of a reasonable settlement posture. The 3M earplugs MDL is the biggest consolidated mass tort in history, but until now it has been off the radar. { Will Filing a 3M Earplug Lawsuit Affect My Disability? Failing to settle before that ruling would be an existential threat to 3M, a company founded 120 years ago. Justice triumphs (this time). But this is something our lawyers will discuss with you. The plaintiffs also filed a motion asking Judge Rodgers to preserve her prior Daubert rulings moving forward. Before we get to the meat of the 3M Combat Arms earplug lawsuits, our attorneys update you with the latest news in the 3M earplug litigation. After this trial, Judge Rodgers will send these lawsuits around the country to be tried in waves. 3Ms subsidiary, Aearo Technologies (which made the earplugs at the center of the litigation) filed a voluntary chapter 11 bankruptcy today and will seek to create a trust fund for settlement of the thousands of pending earplug claims. Dr. Packer is an Ear, Nose & Throat specialist at Mercy Hospital in St. Louis. What is Data Day? 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. December 20, 2021 Update: Another bellwether test trial concluded last week in the 3M Combat Arms Earplugs litigation. ]}. (7:20-cv-00098). how much a 3M earplug lawsuit might be worth. November 1, 2022 Update: Judge Rodgers said last week that monthly settlement talks must resume. So far, 6 out of the 9 bellwether plaintiffs have won their claims against 3M and been awarded damages. Sign up to receive a daily email of today's top military news stories from Stars and Stripes and top news outlets The earplug bellwether trials so far have been two weeks each and they only involved one plaintiff in all but two trials. So they must be contending that they believe 3M will pay more through the bankruptcy process, but it is necessary because it is fairer. It is hard to know how to interpret all of this. A reasonable time frame to expect a result is about 6 months or more. Judge Rodgers is openly questioning whether the 3M settlement talks were in good faith. The 3M earplug claim is a class-action lawsuit in which more than 300,000 of veterans are suing 3M for defective earplugs. This sounds like a bad thing. Our lawyers believe 3M has a minimal chance of winning this appeal. Beals testimony was followed in the afternoon by the plaintiffs expert Dr. Christopher Spankovich, a clinical audiologist at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Text. The trial is scheduled to last two weeks and will be conducted before Judge Robin L. Rosenberg at the federal courthouse in Pensacola. For the first time, this litigation has meaningfully impacted 3Ms stock price. Friday morning (January 14, 2022) was Day 5. February 20, 2023 Update: New 3M earplug cases continue to get filed in large numbers. It is hard to predict how long one of these mega trials might take. But, of course, 3M has already asked the bankruptcy judge to extend the automatic stay to protect 3M and Aearo. May 16, 2022: Just as the first week of the Beal bellwether trial was wrapping up on Friday, the MDL Judge issued a show cause order threatening to hit 3Ms defense lawyers with sanctions for willful abuse of the trial process. Judge Rodgers has had a long history of frustration with 3Ms defense counsel dating back over two years. September 1, 2022: 3M noted its appeal of the bankruptcy ruling on Monday. Judge Rodgers is helping their efforts. But it is very encouraging news that a settlement could be in the works. This means that the oral argument could be scheduled as soon as April or May 2023, and a ruling could come soon afterward. The summary judgment motion is aimed at preemptively blocking any continuing hope 3M may have of forcing the MDL lawsuits to be resolved in bankruptcy. Is the 3M earplug lawsuit worth it? What in the world is going on here? This ruling would have circumvented 3Ms current effort to force the earplug claims to be resolved in the Aearo bankruptcy. October 2021: More Good News/Bad News for 3M. They modified the design by shortening the earplugs. 3M is convinced that not all of these plaintiffs have valid claims. But the device did not go deeply into the ear. So we expect (an incorrect assumption in hindsight) the bankruptcy judge to rule before the end of tomorrow whether 3M lawsuits will be paused for the Aearo bankruptcy in the 3M earplug litigation. This 3M lawsuit may go to the jury as early as tomorrow. There are no guarantees of success. January 8, 2023 Update: Bloomberg reports 3M has spent over $450 million in defense costs in the earplug litigation. We need to prove the basic elements of the claim and being in the military is one of those basic elements. In her memorandum Order, Judge Rodgers explained that 3Ms argument failed because there was no evidence that Wilkerson intentionally concealed his claims against 3M to manipulate his bankruptcy. Because bankruptcy is a more equitable system for valuing claims for settlement than the civil justice system we have had for hundreds of years in this country? At that point, why not keep trying these cases when the average successful jury payout is around $20 million? The next trial in group D will follow immediately after in Pensacola on Monday, March 28, 2022, with the case of Denise Kelley. Ron helped me find a clear path that ended with my foot healing and a settlement that was much more than I hope for. She explained that the move was necessary because 3M has flatly refused to consider a global settlement of the earplug claims within the MDL. December 15, 2022 Update: Reuters does a nice job summarizing 3Ms bankruptcy appeal. There is simply no route for 3M to resolve this litigation if it continues to take the offensive and impractical position that 90 percent of servicemembers and veterans are liars with worthless claims.. See October 11, 2022 update below. The rejection of 3Ms bankruptcy gambit is on appeal to the Seventh Circuit. As for how many 3M trials are left the trials will go on and on until there is a global settlement deal. I am so grateful that I was lucky to pick Miller & Zois. That would allow 3M to appeal the decision separately and immediately, while the MDL remains on pause. "mainEntity": [ The judge found that Aearos bankruptcy restructuring could proceed along with the continuation of the 3M earplug lawsuits. Posted on October 27, 2021 in Class Actions . "acceptedAnswer": { Published By Miller & Zois, Attorneys at Law, 3M Faces Billions in Liabilities Over $7.63 Earplugs, consolidated in the Northern District of Florida, You served in the military between 2003 to 2015, You wore military-issued earplugs during service, You were exposed to loud sounds during military service, You have been diagnosed with hearing loss/tinnitus. So everyone can win here. "name": "What Settlement Amounts Do You Expect for the Average Individual 3M Earplug Lawsuit?