3M Co. is vowing to appeal a Pensacola jury’s $7.1 million damages award to three plaintiffs who argued the company’s military earplugs were defective and led to hearing loss among service members.
The April 30 jury verdict in the Northern District of Florida was the first trial outcome in federal multidistrict litigation involving as many as 240,000 claims over the Combat Arms Earplugs Version 2. According to the Levin Papantonio Rafferty law firm, which represented the plaintiffs, the outcome of the trial will determine the direction of future settlement talks.
3M, however, downplayed the significance of what’s been termed a bellwether trial.
“We do not believe the plaintiffs met their burden of proving their claims,” a 3M statement emailed to the Florida Record says. “While we are disappointed and disagree with the verdicts, they are just the first step in this litigation. We believe there are multiple grounds for appeal, including those outlined in our filed mistrial motion, and are evaluating our legal options.”
3M’s mistrial motion argued that the jury had received inaccurate instructions prior to deliberations, resulting in the defendants not getting a fair trial. The company, which has strongly denied that the military earplugs had design defects that led to injuries, emphasized that the products were manufactured according to the military’s specifications.
“We remain confident in our case and are ready to defend ourselves against plaintiffs’ allegations at the upcoming trials,” the 3M statement says.
The company has supplied the U.S. military with combat earplugs for more than 10 years. The earplugs are designed to protect personnel from tinnitus and hearing loss due to loud noises.
The three plaintiffs – Lewis Keefer and Luke Estes, both of Georgia, and Kentucky resident Stephen Hacker – each received a punitive damage award of $2.1 million. The Pensacola jury also awarded them compensation for medical outlays, pain and suffering, and lost income.
Plaintiffs’ attorney Troy Bouk said the trial’s outcome showed 3M was clearly liable for the delivery of flawed earplugs to American troops.
“Our soldiers counted on these devices to do what they were designed to do,” Bouk said in a prepared statement. “Instead, these brave men and women now suffer with hearing loss – on top of everything else they have already endured and sacrificed.”