A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Friday dismissed the bankruptcy of 3M subsidiary Aearo Technologies, rejecting an effort to resolve nearly 260,000 lawsuits alleging that 3M military earplugs caused hearing loss for veterans and U.S. service members, Reuters reported. Bankruptcy Judge Jeffrey Graham in Indianapolis ruled that Aearo, as a well-supported subsidiary of 3M, enjoys a "greater degree of financial security than warrants bankruptcy protection." The lawsuits, which have been consolidated in federal court in Pensacola, Florida, are the largest mass tort in U.S. history, with nearly 330,000 cases filed and approximately 260,000 pending cases, according to court statistics from March. 3M and Aearo had argued that the earplug litigation had spiraled out of control and could be resolved only in bankruptcy. But Judge Graham ruled the lawsuits against 3M and Aearo did not create any "impending" risk of insolvency, and there was no evidence that a settlement could not be reached outside of bankruptcy. Judge Graham acknowledged that the earplug litigation was "staggering," representing 30% of all cases currently pending in the federal district courts. But Aearo's bankruptcy was a "fatally premature" response, given the fact that 3M had borne the costs of litigation against Aearo and there was no evidence that either company had been seriously harmed by the court cases, Judge Graham said.
