3M Urges To Dismiss Earplugs Lawsuits

3M Urges To Dismiss Earplugs Lawsuits

Introduction

Nationwide, military veterans who suffered from hearing loss due to 3M earplugs are urging the court to reject the plea of 3M Company that argues to free itself from allegations of providing defective earplugs under “government contractor defense.”

More than 140,000 army veterans have sued the company and its Aearo Technologies subsidiary alleging a design defect in their 3M earplug resulted in them suffering hearing loss, tinnitus, and other injuries. The allegations involved the earplugs version 2 (CAEv2), which were standard issued by the U.S. military between 2013 and 2015.

According to a summary judgment filed on April 1, 3M Company has urged to dismiss the lawsuits filed against them as they were relying on the “government contractor defense,”  and distributed the earplugs as per the guidelines provided by the military. However, the jury representing the veteran's argued that the company is blaming the military for their carelessness, so the company's plea cannot be accepted.

The judge who is overseeing the 3M litigation will decide the fate of the motions. Rejection of both the motions will result in pretrial proceedings of the lawsuits, scheduled for April 2021.