$22.5M Award for U.S. Army Member the Largest in 3M Earplugs Litigation So Far

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3M Earplugs Lawsuit Award Overview:

• Who: Multinational company 3M has been ordered to pay former U.S. Army member Theodore Finley $22.5 million in damages.
• Why: A jury awarded Finley the damages, deciding 3M was responsible for his hearing loss due to its allegedly defective earplugs.
• Where: The decision was made in a Florida federal court.

Former U.S. Army member Theodore Finley is the latest to be awarded a multi-million dollar award in damages after alleging he suffered hearing damage from using 3M earplugs during combat or training. 

On Dec. 10, a Florida federal jury awarded Finley $22.5 million in damages, the largest verdict so far in a series of bellwether multidistrict litigation cases on the allegedly defective 3M earplugs, Law360 reports.

The jury awarded Finley $7.5 million in compensatory damages and $15 million in punitive damages. Finley alleged he suffers bilateral tinnitus and noise-induced hearing loss after the earplugs failed to protect his ears from noise created by weapons, generators, mechanized vehicles, helicopters and airplanes.

The case was the eighth bellwether trial over the CAEv2 earplugs made by Aearo Technologies LLC,a company later acquired by 3M. 

Last month, another Florida federal jury held 3M liable for an Army sergeant’s hearing loss after using the earplugs during combat or training, and awarded him more than $13 million in damage. 

Not all the cases so far have been lost by 3M. Of eight cases so far, 3M has beaten two. Plaintiffs have won four — to the tune of $7.1 million, $1.7 million and $8.2 million — and two more are currently in process. 

After multiple reports of hearing loss, tinnitus, and deafness were reported by military service members since about 2002, the U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation into the safety of 3M’s military earplugs.

The investigation found that the earplugs issued to service members were too short for proper insertion into the ear canal. Service members, however, may not have realized that even though they were wearing the earplugs, their ears were not properly protected.

3M agreed to a $9.1 million settlement in July 2018 to resolve allegations that the company violated the False Claims Act and knew about the defective nature of its products at the time of the sale to the U.S. military. 

According to the investigation, the manufacturer of the earplugs may have known about problems with the product as early as 2002, selling defective earplugs for 13 years, affecting a huge number of service members.

Under the terms of the settlement, 3M has not admitted any guilt.

More than 200,000 current and former members of the U.S. military are currently involved in litigation against 3M over its allegedly defective earplugs. 

Servicemen and women who were issued 3M Combat Arms Earplugs between 2003 and 2015 may be eligible for compensation if they suffered military hearing loss, impairment or tinnitus. Fill out the form on this page to see if you qualify.

What do you think of the award in this case? Let us know in the comments. 

Finley is represented by Bryan Aylstock of Aylstock Witkin Kreis & Overholtz PLLC, Shelley Hutson of Clark Love & Hutson GP and Christopher Seeger of Seeger Weiss LLP.

The 3M Earplugs Finley Litigation is Theodore Finley v. 3M Co. et al., Case No. 7:20-cv-00170, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.

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