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3M Defective Earplugs Hearing Loss MDL Overview:
- Who: A jury has ordered 3M Company to pay $2.2 million to former military service member Jonathan Vaughn.
- Why: The jury agreed with Vaughn’s claims that he suffered hearing loss as a result of wearing CAEv2 earplugs manufactured by 3M.
- Where: The case was heard in Florida federal court as part of a sprawling MDL.
3M Company has been ordered to pay a former military service member $2.2 million over claims he suffered hearing loss while using allegedly defective earplugs manufactured by the company.
A veteran of the Iraq war, Jonathan Vaughn was awarded $2 million as compensation for inconvenience, emotional stress, past and future pain and suffering and impairment of quality of life.
Vaughn, who says he has used a hearing aid since 2012, also received an additional $200,000 due to physical impairment.
The jury decided 3M’s CAEv2 earplugs were to blame for his current hearing impairment while also determining the earplugs were “unreasonably dangerous,” according to the verdict form.
3M also “misrepresented” the quality of the CAEv2 earplugs and was “negligent” in their design, among other things, the jury ruled.
3M Verdict Ninth Against 3M Out Of 15 Decided
The verdict was the ninth to go against 3M in 15 bellwether verdicts completed so far in the sprawling multidistrict litigation (MDL) regarding its CAEv2 earplugs.
The MDL was consolidated against 3M back in 2019 and involves more than 280,000 service members and others who argue their hearing was damaged by using 3M’s CAEv2 earplugs.
The largest decision to go against 3M so far was a $110 million verdict granted to two Army veterans in January, Law360 reports.
While 3M has suffered a number of defeats in the MDL, it also has come away victorious on six occasions, including earlier this month when a federal jury in Florida determined their earplugs did not contain a design defect.
Have you suffered hearing loss after wearing earplugs manufactured by 3M? Let us know in the comments!
The plaintiffs in the MDL are represented by Bryan Aylstock of Aylstock Witkin Kreis & Overholtz PLLC, Shelley Hutson of Clark Love & Hutson GP and Christopher Seeger of Seeger Weiss LLP. Vaughn is additionally represented by Douglas C. Monsour.
The Class Action Lawsuit is Vaughn v. 3M Company, et al., Case No. 7:20-cv-00134, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
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3 thoughts on3M Loses Current Defective Earplugs Bellwether Trial, 9th Loss of 15
I served in the Air Force from 2009 to 2017, we were given 3M earplugs daily as I was a jet engine mechanic, and now I have bilateral hearing loss in both ears which was previously diagnosed as tinnitus.
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