3M lawsuit: Indianapolis subsidiary loses court bid to halt historic earplug litigation
A federal judge in Indiana has ruled that hundreds of thousands of lawsuits against 3M over allegedly faulty earplugs it provided to the U.S. Military will not be put on hold while the company’s Indianapolis subsidiary goes through bankruptcy proceedings.
The decision comes as 3M subsidiary Aearo Technologies LLC, which is headquartered in Indianapolis and developed early prototypes of the earplugs, pursues bankruptcy in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.
As part of the bankruptcy, Aearo Technologies has agreed to take on the mounting liabilities facing its parent company over the earplugs. It asked for a freeze on the earplug litigation against 3M, which is concentrated in a federal court in Florida, while the bankruptcy moves through Indiana federal court.
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But a judge denied that request Friday, saying that Aearo Technologies cannot request a stay on lawsuits against 3M because 3M itself hasn't filed for bankruptcy. It's a move that some veterans' advocates are hailing.
“This ruling rejects 3M’s cowardly attempt to delay justice for veterans and affirms the rights of our members to hold 3M accountable before a jury of their peers,” Chris Vedvick, National Commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, said in a prepared statement.
History-making litigation against 3M largest in federal courts system
Many of the 290,000-plus legal claims brought against 3M come from veterans who say they used the earplugs but still developed tinnitus or hearing loss. Together, the claims form the largest multi-district litigation in the history of the federal courts system.
3M has said the bankruptcy of its Indianapolis subsidiary will help reduce the court time and costs that would come with having to prepare legal defenses against hundreds of thousands of individual claims. But veterans have said 3M is structuring the bankruptcy of its Indianapolis subsidiary to avoid having to sufficiently compensate former soldiers and civilians who used the earplugs.
“I think 3M needs to step it up and deal with what they’re supposed to deal with,” William Stout, 59, told IndyStar. He serviced Black Hawk helicopters in Iraq and Afghanistan with the U.S. Army.
Stout is one Hoosier veteran with a claim against the technology giant. He said he relied on 3M’s earplugs while he was in the Middle East. Now he relies on hearing aids.
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“It’s just a piercing ring,” he said, describing his symptoms. “There’s days it’s just a steady hum in my ears and then there’s days it gets so loud it gives me a headache.”
3M has offered to fund Aearo Technologies' operations and capital needs during the bankruptcy process, according to court documents. It also offered to create a $1 billion trust that would resolve all valid claims.
State commanders of the Indiana and Minnesota departments of the non-profit Veterans of Foreign Wars have said a $1 billion trust would amount to about $5,000 for each claimant, some of whom allege hearing loss that may affect them for the rest of their lives.
'We wore them constantly'
"It makes me feel like they know they're guilty and are running from it,” Jamiell Gonzalez, 37, told IndyStar. The Westfield resident was assigned 3M earplugs in basic training after he joined the U.S. Army in 2004.
Gonzalez, who has a claim against 3M, handled communications systems in Iraq and Kuwait. He said he was given training on how to wear the earplugs, which he used every day. “We wore them constantly,” he said.
Now he says his hearing issues lead to challenges at work. He records conversations on the job so he can listen back to them to make sure he understood what was said.
It also impacts life with his wife and kids.
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"At times they feel like I'm neglecting them, or I'm not paying attention to what they're trying to say,” Gonzalez said.
In 2018, 3M paid $9.1 million to the U.S. Department of Justice to settle a whistleblower lawsuit that alleged the company knowingly sold defective earplugs to the military.
The federal government claimed 3M and Aearo Technologies were aware the earplugs were too short and could "loosen imperceptibly," according to a 2018 news release. 3M did not admit any wrongdoing as part of the settlement, but after that, veterans began filing lawsuits against the company in waves.
Call IndyStar courts reporter Johnny Magdaleno at 317-273-3188 or email him at jmagdaleno@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @IndyStarJohnny
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis company loses court bid to halt historic 3M lawsuit
