Jury Awards Three Veterans $7.1 Million for Hearing Damage Resulting From 3M Earplugs
On Friday, April 30, 2021, a federal jury awarded three veterans $7.1 million to compensate for hearing damage resulting from use of 3M Earplugs. Following a five-week trial in Pensacola, Florida the jury awarded each plaintiff $2.1 in punitive damages, plus additional amounts for medical expenses, lost earnings and pain and suffering.
Though Minnesota-based 3M stopped selling the earplugs at issue in 2015, the jury found that the 3M earplugs were “defectively or negligently designed.” Contrary to 3M representations, the product was sold based on representations that inserting the earplugs in one direction would fully block noise. As more than 230,00 service members, veterans and others have found, however, use of the air plugs did not shield them from harmful noise levels that ultimately led to hearing damage, tinnitus, and other associated injuries.
If you were issued or purchased 3M Combat Arms earplugs, were exposed to loud noise when using the earplugs, and have since been diagnosed with hearing problems, you are urged to contact a product liability attorney at Audet & Partners, LLP for a free, confidential case evaluation. You can contact us either by completing and submitting the inquiry form on the right side of this page, or by giving us a call at (800) 965-1461.
Audet & Partners, LLP, together with the South Carolina law firm of Rogers, Patrick, Westbrook and Brickman, P.C., has launched litigation asserting potential claims on behalf of veterans who used Combat Arms earplugs manufactured by 3M and subsequently suffered from tinnitus and/or hearing loss. In July 2018, 3M agreed to pay $9.1 million to resolve claims that it supplied defective earplugs to the United States. The 3M earplug lawsuit alleges that the 3M earplugs were defectively designed insofar as they were too short for proper insertion into the users’ ears, and hence were prone to loosen and dangerously expose many users to hearing damage.
The Combat Arms earplugs were designed to provide two levels of hearing protection, “closed” or “open” settings that could allow for limited ambient hearing. The earplugs were originally created by Aero Technologies which was later acquired by 3M in 2008. It has been alleged that Aero/3M employees were aware of the alleged design defects in the Combat Arms earplugs as early as 2000, several years prior to the time at which 3M became the exclusive provider of earplugs to the military.
If you were issued or purchased 3M Combat Arms earplugs, were exposed to loud noise when using the earplugs, and have since been diagnosed with hearing problems, you are urged to contact a product liability attorney at Audet & Partners, LLP for a free, confidential case evaluation. You can contact us either by completing and submitting the inquiry form on the right side of this page, or by giving us a call at (800) 965-1461.