3M Plaintiffs Seek To Combine 5 Cases For A Single Trial

3M Plaintiffs Seek To Combine 5 Cases For A Single Trial

Introduction

On December 7, plaintiffs involved in the lawsuits over hearing loss from 3M Combat Arms (CAEv2) earplugs filed a motion asking the presiding U.S. District Judge, Casey Rodgers, to consolidate five different claims from the “Group A” bellwether pool for one single trial.

According to the motion filed, plaintiffs have noted that the claims involve a substantial overlap of both law and facts, which is enough to justify the consolidation. The motion further notes that the factual and legal issues are predominately common in all five cases, including CAEv2’s defects, 3M’s inadequate warnings, and misrepresentations.

The consolidation is being sought to allow the common issues to be presented only once as it would allow timely consideration of Group A Bellwethers’ claims and would help avoid unnecessarily burdening the court, the parties, and witnesses with the presentation of duplicative evidence and the relitigation of common issues.

The motion is the result of a case management conference held on November 20, following which an order was issued asking the parties to submit briefs on the issue of whether to consolidate trials among the first group of bellwether cases. The manufacturer is required to respond by December 15, and any reply brief by the plaintiffs is due by December 22.

The first series of individual bellwether trials are scheduled to begin in April 2021. The result of these trials will not hold an obligation on other cases and will be closely monitored by the parties as it would influence settlements for veterans, which would help avoid the need for individual trials nationwide in the coming years.

The Combat Arms Earplugs Version 2 (CAEv2) was manufactured by Aearo Technologies, Inc. before being taken over by 3M in 2008. The dual-ended 3M CAEv2 combat earplugs served as a standard form of military hearing protection in foreign conflicts for more than a decade, from 2002 to 2016. The 3M military earplugs are made of green and yellow with a double-ended design. The green end is inserted in order to block all sound, and the insertion of the yellow end reduces the sound of gunfire and explosives but still allowed the service personnel to be part of a conversation. 

According to several lawsuits filed, the defective military earplugs cause two primary medical issues, tinnitus and hearing loss, mostly among veterans in the Navy and Air Force. The product was discontinued in 2015.

Currently, more than 220,000 claims are filed by veterans against 3M Company and its subsidiary Aearo Technologies, each raising similar allegations that the hearing loss injuries were caused by defective 3M earplugs that were standard issue by the military between 2003 and 2015.