Lawyers for U.S. military veterans suing 3M Co. over its earplugs are trying to block the manufacturer’s plan to resolve the yearslong liability case in bankruptcy court, the Wall Street Journal reported. Aearo Technologies LLC, a 3M subsidiary that once produced the earplugs, late last month accepted responsibility for claims of hearing-loss from more than 230,000 veterans who have said they used the earplugs during their time in the military. As part of the move, Aearo absolved the Minnesota-based industrial conglomerate from liability for the earplugs. Aearo immediately filed for federal bankruptcy protection in Indianapolis. Bankruptcy provides corporate defendants, such as Aearo, leverage to settle mass liability claims. Companies in chapter 11 usually can’t be sued outside of bankruptcy court. Aearo said the bankruptcy should allow it to end trials and mediation talks between 3M and the claimants that have been under way in U.S. District Court in Pensacola, Fla., since 2019. “The verdicts were already outsized and untethered to reality,” Aearo said in its July 26 bankruptcy filing. Aearo said the case is now the largest product-liability civil case in the U.S. The prospect of a long, costly process for 3M to settle the claims is clouding the outlook for the company’s business performance and causing investors to be wary of 3M’s stock, according to industry analysts.
