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Update:
- A federal judge in Florida ordered all but the first-filed lawsuit and counsel in a multidistrict litigation (MDL) regarding 3M earplugs to be closed after warning plaintiffs to come to an agreement on consolidating the lawsuits.
- A settlement data administrator repeatedly attempted to communicate with the primary counsel before an Oct. 11 deadline but was unsuccessful, U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rogers writes.
- The closed claims include duplicate cases and overlapping representation.
- Judge Rogers writes that he chose the first-filed case recognized by the MDL to be the representative for the class to preserve the statute of limitations.
3M defective earplugs MDL overview:Â
- Who: A jury ruled against 3M when awarding Luke Vilsmeyer $50 million in damages for his hearing loss.
- Why: Vilsmeyer, a U.S. service member, said 3M manufactured defective earplugs that left him with hearing damage; his is one of 12 bellwether trials against 3M so far.
- Where: The multidistrict litigation bellwether trials are being held in Florida federal courts.
(March 29, 2022)
A U.S. service member who says he lost his hearing after he used faulty 3M earplugs during training has been awarded $50 million by a jury, the second largest verdict so far in a multidistrict litigation with hundreds of thousands of plaintiffs.
On March 25, a Florida federal jury decided to award the multimillion-dollar sum to Luke Vilsmeyer to compensate him for the damage caused by the faulty earplugs, Law360 reports.
This is the 12th bellwether trial in a multidistrict litigation that includes more than 280,000 service members and others who allege hearing damage as a result of using 3M’s CAEv2 earplug.Â
Of the 12 trials, seven have come out in the plaintiff’s favor.Â
Vilsmeyer claimed that he suffered permanent hearing loss after using the earplugs for more than a decade, mostly during training.
3M ordered to pay $110M in damages earlier this year
The news comes after two former service members who claimed they suffered injuries to their hearing from wearing earplugs manufactured by 3M were awarded $110 million in damages in January. Â
Plaintiffs William Wayman and Ronald Sloan were each awarded $15 million in compensatory damages and $40 million in punitive damages by members of a Florida jury.
In all the cases, the plaintiffs claimed 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.
3M to face four more bellwether trials this year
Twelve bellwether trials have so far been held against 3M, with seven returning verdicts in favor of the plaintiffs.Â
A verdict against the company was delivered in two consecutive bellwether trials held in Pensacola, Florida, in February 2022 while, on Dec. 10, 2021, a jury in Tallahassee, Florida, awarded a former soldier a total of $22.5 million in damages.
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.Â
Four more bellwether trials are set to be held later this year.
If you or someone you know is already suffering from tinnitus or hearing loss because of defective 3M earplugs, now is the time to consider speaking with a lawyer about your options. Click here for a free case evaluation (links to paid attorney content).
The Vilsmeyers are represented by Bryan F. Aylstock, Bobby J. Bradford, Daniel J. Thornburgh and Jennifer M. Hoekstra of Aylstock Witkin Kreis & Overholtz PLLC; Jason M. Milne and Marcela J. Arévalo of Clark Love & Hutson PLLC; Caleb A. Seeley of Seeger Weiss LLP; and Joseph L. Messa and Ashley B. Diliberto of Messa & Associates PC.
The 3M earplug hearing loss case is Luke Vilsmeyer, et al. v. 3M Co., et al., Case No. 7:20-cv-00113, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
The 3M hearing loss 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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