A 3M company that manufactures foam earplugs for the U.S. military could end up costing the manufacturing giant billions in a potential lawsuit.
The earplugs are being called defective and responsible for hearing damage for more than 100,000 U.S. military veterans and other consumers in a lawsuit against 3M.
The earplugs were bought for around $7.63 a pair but could now end up costing the company billions in legal settlements and other fees, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Court-ordered negotiations between 3M and the lawyers representing the veterans who used the earplugs will begin next month.
The argument from 3M is that the earplugs work, but soldiers need to be given proper training to use them correctly. It has also said that it has legal protection known as a government contractor defense. This means that a manufacturer can’t be held liable for supplying a product the government requested.
“The product does work,” 3M attorney Eric Rucker said. “It was designed based on our collaboration with the military.”
A federal judge had ruled that 3M was not protected under the contractor defense. However, the company has appealed the ruling saying that the military did not offer reasonably precise specifications for the product.
On top of that, Rucker pointed out that the military is still using newer versions of the earplugs.
Either way, experts have shared that lawsuits like this and potential future lawsuits could sway manufacturers away from making protective products, with the liability risk being too high.
As for the soldiers who are suing the company, they say using the product has left them with tinnitus and hearing damage.
“This is a bad earplug,” the court-appointed lead lawyer for the plaintiffs, Bryan Aylstock, said. “Most juries look at the evidence, and they award significant damages.”
The lawsuits began piling up after 3M settled a case with the Justice Department in July 2018, agreeing to pay $9.1 million to the U.S. government after being accused of knowingly selling the faulty earplugs. Still, 3M denied any wrongdoing in the case.
Now, a small number of consumers and police plaintiffs have joined the staggering number of veterans in pursuing damages from 3M.
So far, 16 court-ordered bellwether trials have been held between 3M lawyers and soldiers, in which the plaintiffs won 10, 3M won six, and another eight were dismissed.
The plaintiff’s cases saw former soldiers being awarded as high as $77.5 million and as low as $1.7 million in damages, the Journal reported. Some of the decisions have been appealed by 3M, and it said it plans on appealing more.
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