WE ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTING NEW 3M EARPLUGS CLIENTS.
From 2003-2015, 3M’s dual-ended Combat Arms Earplugs Version 2 (CAEv2) were standard issue to millions of American servicemen and women. These earplugs are defective and failed to provide proper hearing protection, resulting in hearing loss and tinnitus (ringing in the ears).
2024 update:
We are now fully in settlement. This is a FIFO system, meaning the first to send in their registration forms are the first getting their settlement payments. Please keep an eye on your email for anything from Summers & Johnson or BrownGreer. In order to accept your settlement, you will need to login to the 3M Settlement portal using the link sent via email, so it’s very important that we have your correct email address on file. If you have had a change of email address, phone number, or mailing address, please let us know as soon as possible!
September 2023 update:
As you may have heard, 3M has finally agreed to a settlement for all eligible 3M CAEv2 earplug claims. There are around 240,000 claims and a settlement worth $6.01 billion, with $1 billion being 3M stock. 3M has the right to cancel the deal if less than 98% of eligible claimants agree to the settlement terms. The settlement funds would be paid out from 2023 to 2029. Even though there is a settlement pending, 3M is still not admitting liability.
Over the next several months, a company called “BrownGreer” (the Settlement Administrator), will be contacting you via email, phone, and/or mail, so please make sure your contact information is correct. If you have a new email address, phone number or mailing address, please let us know as soon as possible, so we can let Archer know.
BrownGreer will be sending every claimant a registration form that must be filled out and signed. This registration form will offer you the choice between an expedited payment program, a deferred payment plan, or to elect not to participate in the settlement program and instead continue as a litigating plaintiff. After the details of each option are made available, we will let you know what we recommend for you. In the meantime, please let us know right away if you have any changes to your contact information.
June 2023 update:
In our last update, we discussed 3M’s desperate attempt to escape liability through bankruptcy. The bankruptcy court refused to extend the bankruptcy stay to include 3M, finding that it was an improper attempt to avoid the civil jury system. 3M has appealed that ruling. We expect a decision by the court of appeals sometime later this year on that issue.
The next 3M scheme to slow the pace of this litigation was a “successor liability” argument. For the first time, after four years of litigation, 3M claimed that another wholly-owned part of its corporate structure was responsible for earplug damages, and not 3M itself. This “successor liability” argument is a new claim that is exactly the OPPOSITE of what 3M had represented for the previous four years (that 3M was responsible).
Although the MDL judge ruled against 3M on the successor liability claim, she nonetheless gave 3M a huge gift when she issued a stay on the entire 3M earplug litigation until that claim can be decided by an appeals court. Unfortunately, the stay will remain in effect until the court of appeals rules, which likely will be many months.
In the meantime, 3M has appealed its trial losses in individual cases. They are arguing that they should not be responsible for any damages because of the “government contractor defense.” 3M is claiming that the federal government provided the specifications for its dual-end combat arms earplugs, and that 3M just made the earplugs to fit those specifications. The only problem with this argument is that it’s totally untrue. 3M never lets the facts get in the way of a good argument, however. The court of appeals heard oral argument about this issue on May 1, 2023, and has not yet ruled.
2022 update:
3M is desperately trying to escape liability for the damages it caused by selling defective earplugs for use by our service members. As we discussed in our last earplug update, 3M tried to use the bankruptcy process to stop the litigation, but the bankruptcy judge denied 3M’s request for a stay. 3M has appealed that ruling. We expect a decision by the court of appeals sometime in 2023 on that issue.
Now 3M has concocted another scheme to slow the pace of this litigation. From the moment this litigation began – almost four years – 3M has agreed that it was solely responsible for the damages caused by its defective earplugs. Now 3M has changed its tune and is claiming that other wholly-owned parts of its corporate structure are responsible, and not 3M itself. This “successor liability” argument is a technicality that 3M hopes will save it from billions in damages. Importantly, this new claim is exactly the OPPOSITE of what 3M had represented for the previous four years. Unfortunately, this last gambit has succeeded in getting the court to issue a stay on the 3M earplug litigation until the “successor liability” claim can be decided by an appeals court.
2019 update:
On July 26, 2018, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that 3M “agreed to pay $9.1 million to resolve allegations that it knowingly sold the dual-ended Combat Arms Earplugs, Version 2 (CAEv2) to the United States military without disclosing defects that hampered the effectiveness of the hearing protection device.” 3M pays $9.1 Million For Defective Earplugs .
DOJ achieved this settlement with 3M through enforcement of the False Claims Act, which allows the federal government to recover taxpayer dollars lost to fraud and abuse. The DOJ settlement DOES NOT compensate servicemen and women for hearing loss and tinnitus caused by these defective earplugs.
The U.S. Judicial Panel on MDL Litigation reports that as of January 2021, there are 203,722 plaintiffs who have made claims against 3M for knowingly distributing faulty “CAEv2” earplugs.
The federal judge in charge of this litigation ruled in July 2020 that 3M (the manufacturer of the defective earplugs) could not escape liability by using the “government contractor defense.” That defense applies if the contractor simply followed detailed government specifications in the design and manufacture of the defective product. The judge concluded that 3M had not proven that the government had provided detailed specifications for the ear plugs.
Now the court is preparing for the first bellwether trial, set for April 5, 2021. In early December, five claimants urged the court to combine their cases into one trial on the basis that each case involves the same underlying facts, and that 3M would be calling the same 12 witnesses in all five cases. Despite the five cases spanning four separate states, and therefore four separate sets of law, the claimants argued that the legal differences between the states are not great enough to warrant independent trials.
In a December 30th order, U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers chose to consolidate three of these cases—those of Luke and Jennifer Estes, Lewis Keefer, and Stephen Hacker—into a bellwether trial set for April 5, 2021.
Additional trial dates have been set for May 17th and June 7th for the other 2 bellwether plaintiffs.
Plaintiffs lawyers say that the number of veterans suffering from hearing loss due to these earplugs could be as high as 800,000.
To receive compensation for hearing loss and tinnitus caused by 3M’s defective earplugs, servicemen and women must file individual claims. If you served during any time from 2003-2015, used earplugs like the dual-ended earplugs pictured above, and suffer from hearing loss or tinnitus, contact us toll free at (877) 704-7674 for a free consultation regarding your legal rights.
In return for risking your life for the rest of us, you trusted military contractors to provide you with the best equipment and technology. 3M breached that trust for 13 years by supplying defective earplugs and doing nothing to correct that defect. Let us help you make 3M pay for the damages caused by its breach of trust.