Chemical and consumer product manufacturer 3M has agreed to pay $6 billion (€5.5 billion) to settle numerous lawsuits from US service members who say they experienced hearing loss or other serious injuries after using faulty earplugs made by the company.
The settlement, consisting of $5 billion in cash and $1 billion in 3M stock, will be made in payments that will run through to 2029.
The agreement announced by the Minnesota company on Tuesday marks a resolution to one of the largest mass torts in US history.
Hundreds of thousands of veterans and current service members have reportedly sued 3M and Aearo Technologies, a company that 3M acquired in 2008, over their Combat Arms Earplug products.
The service members alleged that a defective design allowed the products — which were intended to protect ears from close range firearms and other loud noises — to loosen slightly and allow hearing damage, according to Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis, & Overholtz PLLC, one of the law firms representing plaintiffs.
In an online summary about the Combat Arms Earplug litigation, the Florida-based law firm notes that 3M previously agreed to pay $9.1 million to settle a lawsuit on behalf of the US government alleging the company knowingly supplied defective earplugs to the US military.
And since 2019, the firm added, 3M has lost 10 of 16 cases that have gone to trial — awarding millions of dollars to plaintiffs to date.
The Associated Press approached Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis, & Overholtz PLLC for comment on Tuesday’s agreement. In a statement to Bloomberg and other news outlets, lawyer Bryan Aylstock called the settlement a historic agreement and a “tremendous victory for the thousands of men and women who bravely served our country and returned home with life-altering hearing injuries”.
In Tuesday’s announcement, 3M maintained that the agreement — which includes all claims in Florida’s multi-district litigation, co-ordinated state court action in Minnesota, and potential future claims — was not an admission of liability.
“The products at issue in this litigation are safe and effective when used properly,” the company wrote. “3M is prepared to continue to defend itself in the litigation if certain agreed terms of the settlement agreement are not fulfilled.”
3M has previously tried to reduce exposure to the earplug litigation through bankruptcy court, the Wall Street Journal reported. In 2022, Aearo filed for bankruptcy as a separate company, accepting responsibility for claims, but the filing was later dismissed in US bankruptcy court.
Beyond the earplug litigation, 3M in June agreed to pay at least $10.3 billion to settle lawsuits over contamination of many US public drinking water systems with potentially harmful compounds.
The deal would compensate water providers for pollution with per- and polyfluorinated substances, also known as “forever chemicals”.
The agreement has not been finalised yet. Last month, 22 attorneys general urged a federal court to reject the proposed settlement, saying it lets manufacturer 3M off too easily.
