Manufacturer of chemicals and consumer goods 3M announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to pay $6 billion to resolve claims filed by U.S. service members that the company’s defective earplugs caused them to lose their hearing or suffer other severe ailments.
Payments for the settlement, which consists of $5 billion in cash and $1 billion in 3M stock, will be made over the course of 2029.
Aearo Technologies, a business that 3M bought in 2008, and 3M have both been sued by hundreds of thousands of veterans and active duty service personnel for its Combat Arms Earplugs. According to Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis, & Overholtz PLLC, one of the law firms representing plaintiffs, the service members claimed that a flawed design allowed the products, which were meant to protect ears from close-range firearms and other loud noises, to loosen slightly and allow hearing damage.
Aearo Technologies, a business that 3M bought in 2008, and 3M have both been sued by hundreds of thousands of veterans and active duty service personnel for its Combat Arms Earplugs. According to Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis, & Overholtz PLLC, one of the law firms representing plaintiffs, the service members claimed that a flawed design allowed the products, which were meant to protect ears from close-range firearms and other loud noises, to loosen slightly and allow hearing damage.
The settlement reached on Tuesday “represents a tremendous victory for the thousands of men and women who bravely served our country and returned home with life-altering hearing injuries,” plaintiffs’ attorneys said in a statement.
The deal, which covers all claims in the multidistrict litigation in Florida, coordinated state court litigation in Minnesota, and possible future claims, was not an admission of culpability, according to 3M’s statement on Tuesday.
“The products at issue in this litigation are safe and effective when used properly,” the business noted. If some agreed-upon conditions of the settlement agreement are not met, 3M is ready to continue defending itself in the lawsuit.
According to the Wall Street Journal, 3M has previously attempted to limit its liability to the earplug litigation through bankruptcy court. Aearo filed for bankruptcy in 2022 as a separate business, taking liability for claims; however, the filing was later rejected in a bankruptcy court in the United States.
In addition to the earplug case, 3M agreed in June to pay at least $10.3 billion to resolve claims that numerous U.S. public drinking water systems were contaminated with potentially dangerous substances. With this agreement, water suppliers will get compensation for pollution caused by per- and polyfluorinated compounds, sometimes referred to as “forever chemicals.”
The settlement amount could total $12.5 billion, but the arrangement hasn’t been finalised yet. 22 solicitors general urged a federal court to reject the proposed settlement last month, arguing that it let 3M off too easily and that it didn’t give individual water suppliers enough time to decide how much money they would receive. In some cases, they claimed, the deal could shift liability from the company to providers and that it didn’t give water suppliers enough time to decide how much money they would receive.
Letitia James, the attorney general for New York, announced on Tuesday that 3M had agreed to significantly alter the terms of the settlement. These changes, which are reflected in the proposed court order, include extending the time period during which eligible water systems must review the settlement and eliminating uncapped indemnity in 3M’s favour.
According to her office, James and the other solicitors general have since dropped their opposition. The judge gave the arrangement preliminary approval on Tuesday afternoon, according to court records.
A spokesperson for 3M said in a statement to The Associated Press on Tuesday that the company was pleased with the agreement’s clarification and the attorneys general’s withdrawal of their objections, and that the agreement “will benefit U.S.-based public water systems nationwide that provide drinking water to a vast majority of Americans without the need for further litigation by or on behalf of public water systems.”
Despite the fact that these objections were dropped, five attorneys general nevertheless objected to the settlement payment’s size and timing in an amicus letter, according to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who made the announcement on Tuesday.
The American public will profit from 3M’s agreement to significantly alter its initial proposed settlement, according to a statement from Bonta. “However, 3M declined to pay an amount that accurately reflects the extraordinary damage it has caused to public drinking water systems, and it declined to provide water suppliers with the money to remediate that damage more quickly.”