3M Combat Earplugs Lawsuit

3M Dual-Sided Combat Arms Earplugs (CAEv2) were distributed to U.S. Armed Forces servicemen and servicewomen with the intent of protecting their ears from dangerous levels of noise during combat. However, these combat earplugs had a serious defect proven to cause hearing injuries. People who wore them are entitled to justice and compensation for their injuries sustained due to the use of 3M dual-sided Combat Arms Earplugs.

Aero Technologies–the parent company of 3M–manufactured and supplied the United States military with faulty earplugs intended to protect the hearing of service members between 2003 and 2015. Soldiers serving in Afghanistan and Iraq received 3M earplugs, without knowledge of their inability to fully protect their hearing from the noises created during combat. 3M stopped making the earplugs in 2015, but never recalled the product, or told consumers that they used a product that was flawed.

Moldex-Metric, a 3M competitor, acted as a whistleblower in 2016, filing a lawsuit against the company claiming that 3M knew their earplugs were defective. The lawsuit stated that 3M’s ineffective Combat Arms Earplugs were the cause of the hearing loss and tinnitus experienced by many soldiers who served overseas.

Today, more than 230,000 service members and veterans are suing 3M in conjunction with the Combat Arms Earplugs lawsuit. As of 2023, the company has agreed to a settlement of more than $6 billion, making the case the largest mass tort lawsuit in American legal history.

If you or a loved one served in the military between 2003 and 2015, you may be entitled to financial compensation if you’ve experienced hearing loss or tinnitus as a result of using 3M Combat Arms Earplugs.

• July 1, 2024 - US veterans suing 3M over earplugs seek to stop unit's false alarm bankruptcy.
• June 1, 2024 - 3M begins payments to service members in $6 billion earplug settlement.
• May 1, 2024 - 3M agrees to pay $6 billion in earplugs lawsuit, Novak Djokovic wins in US Open return, and more trending news.
• April 1, 2024 - Nearly all of the claimants who sued St. Paul-based 3M over alleged faulty combat earplugs will participate in a multibillion dollar settlement, 3M said.
• March 1, 2024 - 3M has paid $6 billion in settlements to resolve numerous lawsuits filed by U.S. military personnel who claim to have suffered hearing loss or serious injuries after using earplugs manufactured by 3M.
• January 1, 2024 - The implementation of the Combat Arms Earplugs settlement reaches a new milestone.
• December 1, 2023 - 3M faces potential liabilities of over $7.63 billions on earplugs lawsuit.
• November 1, 2023 - As Deal with Veterans Percolates, 3M Drops Earplug Apeals.
• October 1, 2023 - 3M agrees to pay almost $10 million to settle apparent Iran sanctions violations.
• September 1, 2023 - 3M Nears Roughly $5.5 Billion Earplugs Settlement with more than 300,000 claims. Litigation ranks as the largest mass tort in U.S. history.
• August 1, 2023 - 3M Is Making Progress in Tackling Liability Lawsuits, CEO Says.
• July 1, 2023 - Pensacola lawyer gives an update on defective 3M Earplug lawsuits.
• June 1, 2023 - 3M answered questions from judges of the Eleventh Circuit who appeared open to affirming hearing loss verdicts for four veterans and an important, underlying ruling that denied immunity for defects found in 3M's combat earplugs.
• May 1, 2023 - Parties argue whether 3M Earplug unit was in financial distress before bankruptcy.
• April 1, 2023 - 3M is fighting a legal battle over combat earplugs.
• March 1, 2023 - Michael Roman, 3M's CEO, was hit by by a $50 billion stock rout. Roman was the victim of poor timing and poor decisions made by previous 3M CEOs. His tenure was marked by a series of legal problems that resulted from the legacy manufacturing of perfluoroalkyl and military earplugs (PFAS) and the decline in 3M's market value.
• February 19, 2023 - Bellwether trials won more often than before 3M announced in July that the Aearo subsidiary would go bankrupt.
• February 1, 2023 - The 3M military earplugs lawsuit is now being heard in bankruptcy court. A federal judge in Florida, who is overseeing a mountain of earplug litigation against 3M, has stopped efforts to mediate a deal. However, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of Indiana continues mediation between 3M and lawyers representing thousands former and current military personnel who claim that 3M's defective earplugs have damaged their hearing.

• January 15, 2023 - Veterans and military service personnel claimed that the combat earplugs sold to the U.S. army by 3M were defective. These cases were consolidated under federal law and brought before a single judge. They are a great example of how important it is for people to have access to courts.
• January 1, 2023 - 3M blocked from shifting earplug liability to unit in bankruptcy. Judge punishes 3M for changing positions regarding liability.
• December 1, 2022 - Kirkland wins court approval to advise 3M Earplug Unit Bankruptcy. A bankruptcy judge ruled that 3M and its Aearo unit are in the same interests and Kirkland's representation does not cause conflict.
• October 1, 2022 - 3M's bankruptcy setback deepens earplug litigation troubles. The corporation's plan for resolving the largest single litigation in U.S. history in bankruptcy court went away from the plan where other corporate defendants have succeeded.
• September 1, 2022 - 3M appeals bankruptcy court refusal to end 230,000 earplug lawsuits.
• August 14, 2022 - 3M Earplug Judge M. Casey Rodgers sympathetic to veterans called to proceed.
• August 1, 2022 - 3M who is facing thousands of lawsuits is creating a $1 billion trust for U.S. service members who say its earplugs did not protect them from hearing loss.
• July 26, 2022 - 3M has announced that the company takes action to efficiently and equitably resolve litigation related to the 3M defective combat earplugs.
• July 13, 2022 - A federal court in Florida said that 3M should not have announced its intention to seek new trials in nine combat earplug cases ahead of time.
• July 1, 2022 - 3M faces potentially $7.63 billions in lawsuits over earplugs. 3M to begin court-ordered settlement talks over military earplugs, following lawsuits by thousands of soldiers.
• June 5, 2022 - A federal jury in FL ruled 3M has to pay $77.5 million to James Beal, an army veteran whose lawsuit alleged the 3M’s faulty earplugs caused hearing loss and ringing in his ears.
• June 1, 2022 - Around 290,000 U.S. soldiers are suing 3M over defective earplugs.
• May 2, 2022 - 3M has been convicted of $2.2 million in a legal battle over defective earplugs it made for the U.S. Military. The U.S. District Court in northern Florida ruled Friday in favor Jonathon Vaughn. Jonathon Vaughn was a U.S. Army veteran who served from 2006 to 2010. Vaughn, a Southside resident, claimed his hearing loss and tinnitus were caused by 3M's Combat Arms CAEv2 Earplugs.
• May 1, 2022 - A federal jury in Pensacola, Florida ruled in favor of 3M in the lawsuit of Denise Kelley (36-year-old from California, who had served 10 years in U.S. Army) . Kelley claimed that she was a victim of defective 3M earplugs that have caused her hearing loss and tinnitus.
• April 1, 2022 - Two army veterans awarder $58 Million: Jurors in Pensacola, FL, awarded $50 million to Luke Vilsmeyer, a U.S. Army veteran who suffered permanent hearing loss and severe tinnitus. Tallahassee jury awarded $8 million in compensatory damages to Steven Wilkerson who suffered tinnitus and hearing loss.
• March 1, 2022 - 3M adds yet another legal concern to its list of headaches. The conglomerate is facing a growing battle over the sale of earplugs to the U.S military.
• February 23, 2022 - A federal court in Florida decided that 3M earplug scientist must testify in 5 upcoming trials. This is despite the fact that the 3M scientist has already testified extensively.
• February 6, 2022 - Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation published: Motions in Previously Centralized MDLs - 3M Combat Arms Earplug Products Liability Litigation (MDL-2885).
• January 28, 2022 - 2 Army Soldiers Awarded $110 Million in 3M Earplug Lawsuit - A federal jury awarded $110 million to two U.S. Army soldiers who said they had hearing damage because of earplugs produced by the multinational manufacturer 3M.
• January 1, 2022 - 7 federal judges designated by the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court will discuss the MDL 2885 lawsuits (3M Earplugs Lawsuit).
• December 10, 2021 - Jurors in Tallahassee, FL awarded $22.5 million to former U.S. Army soldier, Theodore Elwood Finley who alleged that combat earplugs manufactured by 3M caused him to suffer Tinnitus & hearing loss.
• December 1, 2021 - 3M loses bid to test earplug plaintiff for genetic hearing loss after U.S. Judge Gary Jones in Pensacola, FL held that there was no basis for 3M's request for the test - that 2 cousins of the plaintiff Steven Wilkerson's were born deaf.
• November 24, 2021 - 3M Combat Arms Earplug Products Liability Litigation - December 2, 2021, hearing session order.
• November 15, 2021 - Jury in Tallahassee, FL Federal Court awarded Guillermo Camarillorazo $13 Million on a 3M earplug lawsuit. $816,395 in compensatory and $12.25 million in punitive damages.
• November 1, 2021 - M. Casey Rodgers (Chief Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida) MDL-2885 - 3M Combat Arms Earplug Products Liability Litigation
• October 15, 2021 - United States Courts Opinions - 3M Combat Arms Earplug Products Liability Litigation
• October 2, 2021 - 3M will pay $8.2 million to Brandon Adkins, a former U.S. Army soldier after finding the 3M earplugs had a design defect and 3M did not provide adequate safety warnings.
• September 24, 2021 - U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers has scheduled another bellwether trials to start at September 20, 2021 and October 18, 2021, with a possible consolidated trial of 3 plaintiffs in January 2022.
• Biggest 3M Payout: $9.1 Million to settle False Claims case with US Government
• 3M Earplug Lawsuit Status: Number of Cases is more than 139,693 Claimants as of March 2020
• Earplug Introduction Date: 2003
• Intended Use: Hearing protection against loud and high-pitched noises from combat arms
• Side-Effects: Hearing Loss & Tinnitus
• 3M loses third trial in huge military earplug mass tort results in $1.7 million against 3M
• October 2020 - A Federal Judge in Florida said the Department of Defense gave good reasons to keep an Army Officer from sitting for a deposition relating to the 3M earplug case.
• September 2020 - The number of claimants joining the case against 3M has continued to rise, with over 200,000 people now saying that the Combat Arms earplugs were defective. As such, it has become one of the biggest mass tort cases in American legal history, and there is potential for it to grow even more due to the large number of U.S military personnel who wore the earplugs when on duty during the period of 2003-2015.
• August 2020 - It is predicted that bellwether trials could start for the 3M defective earplug case in the spring of 2021. A bellwether trial, as the name suggests, is like a test case, involving a plaintiff with a claim seen as typical of the large group. Such a trial could provide a blueprint for future cases and potential payouts for 3M earplug damage.
• July 2020 - A federal judge ruled that 3M is not entitled to Governmental immunity. The company claimed that it had the right to immunity due to being a government contractor. The Judge refused to toss out the lawsuits on this basis, however, pointing out that 3M did not have a contract with the U.S military. This is an important legal distinction, and the U.S military would have had to have been involved in the design of the earplugs, which it wasn’t, for 3M to claim government immunity.
• April 2020 - After the unsealing of documents in the 3M case in April 2020, it emerged that the company presented testing results that were conducted before the earplugs were shortened to fit into a carrying case.

To date, the only settlement amount from 3M has been the $9.1 million compensation paid to the United States federal government in July 2018. The settlement occurred after a whistleblower within 3M alerted the federal government to the defective nature of the earplugs. 

3M is now required to pay $6.01 billion in damages to settle lawsuits from service members and others who suffered injury due to the company’s faulty earplugs. Because the case has been combined into a mass tort case, plaintiffs can expect settlements to be based on individual circumstances rather than a fixed sum for all combat troops injured by 3M defective earplugs. The money will be paid out to those entitled to financial compensation between 2023 and 2029.

The 3M lawsuit settlement amounts will undoubtedly continue to be a major financial headache for the company as the 3M defective earplugs case has become the biggest mass tort suit in United States history with many more military personnel expected to join. 

Hearing loss is one facet of the damage caused by defective earplugs. Service members and veterans can experience issues like depression and anxiety linked to hearing problems. Each claimant will face unique issues that will have to be taken into account when determining payouts for 3M earplugs cases. 

Judge Jeffrey Graham, a U.S. bankruptcy judge, allowed Kirkland & Ellis (November 10, 2022) to continue representing bankrupt 3M subsidiary Aearo Technologies. Judge Graham rejected calls to disqualify Aearo Technologies because it had defended 3M.

The 3M combat earplugs were designed to prevent hearing damage. The earplugs were used by members of the U.S. Armed Forces. 3M earplugs were given to service members who were regularly subjected to noisy conditions in both training and combat.

To work effectively, the earplugs need a 100% seal to block out the noise. The earplugs were too short to fill the ear canal properly, so a proper seal wasn’t created.

The result was damage to the inner ear (and the sensitive hairs of the inner ear) of affected service members. Many users didn’t realize they weren’t being properly protected.

3M earplugs are responsible for hearing loss and painful tinnitus experienced by many service members and veterans. As a consequence, thousands of US troops and veterans are suing a 3M for supplying them with defective earplugs during military tours from 2003 to 2015. 

Many veterans suffer hearing problems after exposure to dangerous levels of noise, common in combat missions. However, 3M is accused of providing the military with defective Combat Arms earplugs and for covering up knowledge of the faulty equipment that was supposed to protect troops’ ears.

Many members and former members of the U.S. Armed Forces have been in contact with 3M earplug lawsuit attorneys and have begun bringing personal injury claims against 3M after suffering ear problems.

Historically, soldiers in the military have needed to carry two different types of earplugs in combat zones. One was used to block all sound (much like traditional earplugs designed for civilians). The other was used to block loud noises while still allowing them to hear and communicate with people nearby. 

3M attempted to solve this problem by releasing dual-ended earplugs that allowed soldiers to have both functions within a single pair of earplugs. Unfortunately, the design of the earplugs was flawed. The Combat Arms Earplugs were too short for the ear canals of many soldiers, resulting in a failed seal. This meant that even though soldiers were wearing their earplugs with the expectation of being protected from loud noise, sound was able to reach the inner ear.

Everyone hears loud noises from time to time, often without consequence. Hearing an extremely loud noise once, or hearing loud noises over time, however, can cause temporary or permanent hearing loss, as well as an ongoing sound of ringing in the ears known as tinnitus. 

Listening to loud music can cause people to experience hearing loss and tinnitus, as can loud sounds experienced in the workplace. It’s essential for employers to provide effective, safe earplugs to employees who are exposed to loud noises at work–such as soldiers who are serving in combat zones. 

Loud noise can harm a part of the ear called the cochlea, a fluid-filled space in the inner ear filled with delicate hair cells that move when your ears receive sound waves. These hair cells are necessary to translate sound waves into nerve messages that the brain is able to understand. Sadly, damage to the cells in the cochlea typically results in permanent hearing loss. When the hairs are bent or broken (but not destroyed), they can send incorrect impulses to the brain, resulting in hearing a constant ringing sound known as tinnitus. 

A whistleblower within the company discovered that 3M had intentionally hidden the defects, helping the U.S. government to strike back at 3M for its misleading claims.  3M eventually settled with the U.S. government, and now many affected service members and veterans are fighting the company for justice and compensation for their injuries sustained while wearing these earplugs. Moreover, many impacted individuals are currently building and pursuing legal action against 3M for both financial and non-financial damages that resulted from wearing these defective earplugs.

There are potentially millions of U.S. Armed Forces service members and veterans who were negatively impacted by defective 3M combat earplugs.  According to statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, hearing loss and tinnitus are amongst the most common health issues suffered by veterans. More than 1.7 million veterans receive compensation for tinnitus while another 1.1 million veterans receive compensation for hearing loss. 

All members of each branch of the military who served between 2003-2015 who used these earplugs were potentially exposed to damage, amounting to hundreds of thousands of potential injuries (if not more). 

At the heart of the 3M faulty earplug lawsuit is the charge that the company knew its products, called 3M Combat Arms Hear-Through Earplugs, were defective, and that the earplugs could loosen in a way that would render them ineffective. 3M settled a lawsuit with the federal government a couple of years ago, but many individual military personnel have joined the lawsuit against 3M after suffering hearing loss or tinnitus after using the company’s earplugs while on duty.

Ear damage is one of the most common injuries suffered by U.S. military veterans. In fact, the Hearing Health Foundation cites tinnitus, ringing in the ear, and hearing loss as the two most common health complaints among veterans. Furthermore, the Military Health System has stated that hearing issues are the main disability in the veteran community. Moreover, studies have linked hearing problems with other issues like depression and anxiety.

If you served in the military between 2003 and 2015 and experienced temporary or permanent hearing loss, or are dealing with tinnitus, it’s important to reach out to a case expert who can work with you to determine whether you may be entitled to compensation. Since this is a mass tort case, each payout is individual, and depends on the extent of your injuries and suffering. It’s essential that you work with a lawyer who understands the nuances of the case in order to get the money you deserve.

If you’re a veteran or current service member who is interested in receiving compensation from 3M following hearing loss due to the use of their defective earplugs, you don’t have to figure this out alone–we’re here to help.. Fill out the free evaluation form. If you qualify, we will be in contact with you to explain the process and connect you with experienced 3M lawsuit lawyers to handle your case.