Judge Says 3M Can’t Escape Liability In Earplug Lawsuits

A federal judge recently told 3M that it may not use ‘bad faith manipulation’ to avoid its responsibility in a slew of cases against the multinational conglomerate for its allegedly defective earplugs.

In a sharply worded order issued on Dec. 22, U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers, the Pensacola, Florida-based judge where the nearly 250,000 lawsuits against 3M are being overseen, said the company deserved the ‘harshest penalty’ for its effort to shift liability for hearing damage suffered by veterans to a subsidiary.

‘3M purposely engaged in a nearly four-year campaign to establish itself as the sole responsible party for [earplug] claims, then abruptly reversed course when that narrative no longer suited its strategic objectives,’ Rodgers wrote.

According to the judge’s order, 3M’s recent move came after it already awarded nearly $300,000,000 to 13 plaintiffs over the course of 16 ‘bellwether trials.’