On December 30, a court order was issued in which U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers, presiding over 3M Combat Arms earplugs litigation, announced that the first bellwether trial, which is scheduled for April 5 through April 30, this year, will involve claims filed by three plaintiffs.
Earlier, the plaintiffs involved in the litigation filed a motion asking Judge Rodgers to consolidate five different claims from the “Group A” bellwether pool for one single trial, claiming that the lawsuits involve a substantial overlap of both law and facts, which is enough to justify the consolidation.
According to the recent order, the judge said that three separate trials would prove to be repetitive and will impact the burdens and delays that consolidation is meant to mitigate. The two additional cases are set to proceed individually on May 17, 2021, and June 7, 2021.
Defendants raised objections concerning the consolidation, stating that such a trial would confuse the jurors. However, Judge Rodgers rejected the argument and consolidated three cases for the first bellwether trial, and sent two cases for individual trials.
The result of these trials will not hold an obligation on other cases and will be closely monitored by the parties as it would influence settlements for veterans, helping avoid the need for individual trials nationwide in the coming years.
The Combat Arms Earplugs Version 2 (CAEv2) was manufactured by Aearo Technologies, Inc. prior to being taken over by 3M in 2008. The dual-ended 3M CAEv2 combat earplugs served as a standard form of military hearing protection in foreign conflicts for more than a decade, from 2002 to 2016. The 3M military earplugs are made of green and yellow with a double-ended design. The green end is inserted in order to block all sound, and the insertion of the yellow end reduces the sound of gunfire and explosives but still allowed the service personnel to be part of a conversation. According to several lawsuits filed, the defective military earplugs cause two primary medical issues, tinnitus and hearing loss, mostly among veterans in the Navy and Air Force. The product was discontinued in 2015.
Currently, more than 200,000 claims are filed by veterans against 3M Company and its subsidiary Aearo Technologies, each raising similar allegations that the hearing loss injuries were caused by defective 3M earplugs that were standard issue by the military between 2003 and 2015.
