Initial Discovery Progresses In 3M Earplug Lawsuits

Initial Discovery Progresses In 3M Earplug Lawsuits

Introduction

The parties involved in thousands of 3M Combat Arms Earplugs lawsuits have made considerable progress and are moving steadily ahead in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida, as per the recent court records.

According to a case management order issued on August 27, Judge M. Casey Rodgers confirmed that the parties entered into a tolling agreement for certain 3M earplug claims, extending the statute of limitations, which would provide the court and manufacturer with a more accurate count of filed and unfiled claims pending nationwide. Also, the defendant is currently on track to meet the September 30 deadline to substantially complete its document production.

The Next Case Management Conferences Schedule:

• September, 27, 2019, at 9:30 a.m.

• October 25, 2019, at 9:30 a.m.

• November 22, 2019, at 9:30 a.m.

• December 16, 2019, at 9:30 a.m.

Recently, on August 9, 2019, the Federal Court passed an agenda for discussion on the Science Day event regarding issues related to the use of 3M Earplugs. Both parties involved in this suit were given 15 minutes slot on the Science Day event, where they were allowed to educate the court on the scientific and legal issues in relevance to their case. Each side was allowed to send up to three speakers to address scientific aspects of the legal actions. Discussion on topics related to the science of hearing loss, the procedure to test hearing protection devices, and testing protocols required for the 3M Combat Arms Earplugs were discussed. 

The complaint against 3M has its roots in the US Army request in the year 1999 to shorten earplugs so that they could easily fit in a military carrying case. As of June 5, 2019, a total of 800 lawsuits are pending in U.S. courts against 3M. Plaintiffs involved in this case claim that 3M provided defective CAEv2 earplugs from 2003 to 2015. The common allegation by the plaintiff is that manufacturers allegedly provided faulty earplugs devices to the U.S. military, despite being aware of the hearing loss risk to American soldiers. 

The 3M earplugs were inefficient in guarding the U.S. army personnel against tinnitus and hearing loss, which resulted due to high explosion noise on the battlefield. . The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) has decided to centralize claims for pretrial proceedings in the Northern District of Florida.

U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers is presiding over all injury lawsuits filed under MDL No. 2885 (In Re: 3M Combat Arms Earplug Litigation) in the Northern District of Florida against Minnesota-based 3M.