Awards Mounting
3M and Aearo prevailed in six of the cases that went to trial, and got some cases that were scheduled for trial thrown out. But they face more than $250 million in damages awarded by juries in 10 other test trials, including a $50 million compensatory award for a single plaintiff and one punitive damages award of more than $70 million.
Judge M. Casey Rodgers, who is overseeing the Florida federal court litigation, recently said a court in her district is on track to hold another test trial on allegations the devices were ineffective. Other cases will soon go to courts around the country for trial, she said. Mediation sessions are underway too.
3M spokesman Sean Ly--h said in an emailed statement that the company still doesn’t “have needed information about the number of meritorious claimants.” It doesn’t know “how many claimants have an injury or even how many claimants used the product,” he said.
Seven test-trial verdicts are before the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, which reactivated the appeals Sept. 29 after a halt related to Aearo’s July bankruptcy filing.
3M has made some broad arguments on appeal, including that it should be immune from suit as a government contractor. It lost such an argument on different facts before the judge overseeing the PFAS cases.
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https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/3m-combat-earplug-fight-at-crossroads-as-court-strategies-falter