A federal appeals court granted 3M Co.’s request to review a bankruptcy judge’s refusal to stop mass injury lawsuits from proceeding against the conglomerate following the chapter 11 filing of its earplug manufacturing unit, Aearo Technologies LLC, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago on Wednesday granted Aearo’s petition requesting a direct review of the bankruptcy court ruling, bypassing a federal district court and putting the appeal on a faster track to resolution. The appeal stems from an August ruling by Judge Jeffrey Graham of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Indianapolis, who declined to shield 3M from continued litigation involving military earplugs and extending to it the litigation stay that Aearo received automatically by filing for chapter 11. The bankruptcy ruling has allowed 230,000 personal-injury claims against 3M, which didn’t seek chapter 11 protection itself, to continue proceeding on behalf of U.S. military veterans who allege the earplugs didn’t work as promised and left them with lasting hearing damage. The claimants blame faulty earplug design for their alleged injuries, while 3M says the earplugs are safe when used properly. 3M has argued that chapter 11 provides all claimants with an equitable resolution, and pays them more quickly and efficiently than the tort system. Personal-injury lawyers have fought to keep the earplug lawsuits out of bankruptcy court and accused 3M of misusing chapter 11 to escape mass lawsuits it was losing.
