IN RE: 3M COMBAT ARMS EARPLUG PRODUCTS LIABILITY LITIGATION

  1. December 09, 2020

    Service Members Want Single Bellwether In 3M Earplug MDL

    Five military members and veterans who blame their hearing damage on allegedly defective 3M earplugs urged a Florida federal judge on Monday to group their bellwether cases for a single trial, saying their cases "involve overlapping, and frequently coextensive, issues and facts."

  2. October 02, 2020

    Judge In MDL Won't Send 3M Earplug Claims To Minn.

    A Florida federal judge denied for a second time a bid from military veterans to send their suits over allegedly defective 3M earplugs back to Minnesota state court, saying neither this group's "novel" arguments nor her recent rejection of one of the company's defenses makes the federal forum inappropriate.

  3. July 27, 2020

    3M Can't Duck Earplug Suit With Gov't Contract Preemption

    A Florida federal judge has ruled that 3M Co. can't escape allegations that it sold defective earplugs by arguing its government contract preempts those claims, saying the company has failed to show the military exercised any real control over the earplugs' design.

  4. July 17, 2020

    3M Can't Get Unredacted Info From DOD In Earplug MDL

    A Florida magistrate judge on Friday denied a bid by 3M Co. to get full, unredacted medical records for three bellwether plaintiffs in multidistrict litigation over alleged health complications tied to the use of its Combat Arms earplugs, saying the records on their mental health aren't relevant to the "garden variety" claims of emotional distress.

  5. July 02, 2020

    3M Wants DOD Employees, Data In Defective Earplug MDL

    3M Co. told a Florida federal judge it has no choice but to seek to compel six U.S. Department of Defense employees to give deposition and the department to produce data in multidistrict litigation over the company's earplugs, which are said to have caused users in the military to develop tinnitus and suffer hearing loss.

  6. April 02, 2020

    3M Can't Pin Defective Earplugs On Gov't, Military Users Say

    3M Co. can't argue that a government contract preemption gives it clearance to exit a suit over its allegedly defective earplugs, a group of military members told a Florida federal court Wednesday, because the earplugs were also advertised for civilian use.