3M Defective Earplug Suit Awards $110M In Damages

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3M Defective Earplugs MDL Overview: 

• Who: A jury ruled against 3M when awarding William Wayman and Ronald Sloan a total of $110 million in damages. 
• Why: Wayman and Sloan claim 3M manufactured defective earplugs that left them with hearing damage.
• Where: The multidistrict litigation bellwether trials are being held in Florida federal courts.

Two former service members who claim they suffered injuries to their hearing from wearing earplugs manufactured by 3M have been awarded $110 million in damages. 

Plaintiffs William Wayman and Ronald Sloan were each awarded $15 million in compensatory damages and $40 million in punitive damages, Law360 reports. 

Wayman and Sloan claim they developed tinnitus and began to suffer from hearing loss they say was caused by using 3M CAEv2 earplugs.

The verdict was the largest yet in bellwether trials against 3M, part of a sprawling multidistrict litigation against the multinational conglomerate, Law360 reports. 

Plaintiffs claim 3M and its subsidiary Aearo Technologies LLC supplied them with defective CAEv2 earplugs that failed to provide sufficient protection, leading to hearing loss and tinnitus.

3M, meanwhile, has argued that the military is also somewhat responsible for the earplugs’ design and how they were delivered to the service members, Law360 reports.

3M To Face 5 More Bellwether Trials This Year

Eleven bellwether trials have so far been held against 3M with six returning verdicts in favor of the plaintiffs. 

3M was on the right side of the verdict in two consecutive bellwether trials held in Pensacola last month while, on Dec. 10, a jury in Tallahassee awarded a former soldier a total of $22.5 million in damages, Law360 reports.  

Other verdicts have seen three plaintiffs awarded $7.1 million, an $8.2 million award for an Army veteran and $1.7 million for a machine gun operator. 

Five more bellwether trials are set to be held later this year, Law360 reports. 

Also this month, 3M and other companies agreed to a $5 million settlement to resolve claims they contributed to polluting the Tennessee River. 

Have you suffered hearing damage after wearing earplugs manufactured by 3M? Let us know in the comments! 

Wayman and Sloan are represented by Shelley Hutson of Clark Love & Hutson PLLC, Bryan Aylstock of Aylstock Witkin Kreis & Overholtz PLLC, Michael Sacchet of Ciresi Conlin LLP and David Buchanan of Seeger Weiss LLP.

The 3M Defective Earplugs MDL is In re: 3M Combat Arms Earplug Products Liability Litigation, Case No. 3:19-md-02885, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. 

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