Nathan Frei, a former active-duty infantry officer who served from 2011 to 2015 and Judge Advocate General within the U.S. Army, first noticed interrogation problems in 2013, shortly after coming back from training with the U.S. Navy. Nate has been identified as affected by tinnitus and is now certainly one of over 200,000 plaintiffs suing 3M over Combat Arms earplugs.
Nathan Frei
Former active-duty U.S. Army infantry officer Nathan Frei says he received a number of the most intensive training the U.S. Army had to supply between 2011 and 2015. Loud sounds got here with it, from guns to helicopters to explosions.
To guard his hearing, Frei wore standard earplugs made by 3M.
Today, he’s certainly one of over 200,000 military service members and veterans is suing the conglomerate. 3M shares, which hit a recent 52-week low on Wednesday, are among the many worst-performing industrials this yr, down greater than 16% in 2023. XLI Industrials ETFwhich is a decrease of 1.5% for the reason that starting of the yr.
The plaintiffs claim that the 3M earplugs were “defective” and didn’t protect against hearing loss and tinnitus.
“We took advantage [the earplugs] each time we were around loud noises,” Frei, who lives in Seattle, told CNBC. “I relied on these hearing protectors on the time.”
From 2003 to 2015 Aero Technologies and its parent company, 3M, manufactured and supplied to the U.S. military Combat Arms CAEv2 earplugs. The earplugs were standard equipment for soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq and were intended to guard service members’ hearing during military training and combat.
3M Combat Arms CAEv2 earplugs
CNBC
Each earplug had two ends: the green end was designed to dam out any sound. The yellow end, signaling “whisper mode”, purportedly blocked out loud sounds – but allowed the wearer to listen to quieter sounds, equivalent to conversations.
I do not appear to be someone who should probably have as much hearing loss as I did at my age.
Nathan Frei
Former U.S. Army infantry officer on lively duty
“We have been told that by wearing ‘whisper mode’ we will still protect our hearing,” said Frei, who says he first noticed hearing problems in 2013.
“I heard a ringing,” recalls Frei. “At first I assumed it was the TV on. So I searched the entire house searching for the source of the noise before realizing it was just in my head.”
The 35-year-old said his hearing problems had gotten worse over the years. Department of Veterans Affairs records shared by Frei CNBC show that he was later diagnosed with tinnitus.
“It’s everlasting,” he said. “It is a loud ringing in my ears – very just like a buzzing sound.”
He said the ringing was so annoying that it kept him awake sometimes.
“I do not appear to be someone who should probably have as much hearing loss as I did at my age,” he said.
3M’s response
Eric Rucker, a lawyer for 3M, told CNBC that the corporate has great respect for the boys and ladies within the military and that their safety has all the time been a priority.
Maplewood, Minnesota, 3M’s global headquarters.
Michal Siluk | Getty Images
“The aim of creation [the Combat Arms earplugs] was working with the military to resolve certainly one of the longest-standing problems with soldiers not wearing hearing protection around loud noises and in combat,” said Rucker.
Rucker said the plugs were designed in collaboration with the U.S. military and tested by the Air Force, the Army, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and others.
“All of those tests show that the Combat Arms earplugs, when properly fitted and used in line with the instructions, protect people’s hearing,” he said.
Rucker acknowledged that military audiologists were “well trained in training people and fitting people to make use of earplugs”, but maintained that it “should work and protect their hearing in environments where the usage of these earplugs was appropriate.”
After filing a whistleblower lawsuit in 2016, Mraccusing 3M of selling “dangerously defective” earplugs the corporate agreed to pay $9.1 million to the Department of Justice settle charges without admitting responsibility.
This was soon followed by a flood of latest suits from a whole lot of 1000’s of other service members.
Where things stand today
Today, the lawsuits have been consolidated in federal court in Florida, creating what some are calling the most important mass tort in US historysurpassing even multidisciplinary litigation Johnson & Johnson’s talc products.
3M has lost 10 of the 16 cases it has gone to trial up to now, with a complete of $265 million awarded to 13 plaintiffs up to now.
“There have been several trials of the chief. And unfortunately, Aearo and 3M were unable to supply all of the evidence related to the unique product design, military involvement within the product design, all issues regarding the instructions on methods to use the product and the way well it performed, including some test information that was excluded from some trials Rucker said.
“All of that is under appeal. We hope that decisions on the appeal will bring more of this information to the fore.”
Combat Arms earplugs, properly fitted and used as instructed, protect your hearing.
3M recent data has recently been released which shows that 90% of the group of 175,000 claimants should not have a hearing impairment in line with medically accepted standards, in line with records of the US Department of Defense. The plaintiffs’ chief lawyers call the figures “misrepresentation.”
“3M has intentionally distorted this data by counting on hearing standards that don’t measure essentially the most noise-exposed frequencies, concealing the hearing damage experienced by veterans,” Bryan Aylstock and Chris Seeger, co-lead counselor to service members and veterans, said in a joint statement.
3M disagreed with these claims, telling CNBC: “The information confirms what 3M has maintained throughout this dispute: Combat Arms version two earplugs were protected and effective to make use of. This has been confirmed by every third-party independent organization that has tested the product, including the Army Research Lab, Air Force Research lab, NIOSH, and others.”
Liability risk
Mizuho CEO Brett Linzey wrote in a memo to clients that “even the bottom level of previously settled Combat Arms lawsuits (and even half that quantity) equates to pretty good liabilities that 3M can have to resolve.”
In keeping with one Wall Street analyst, the danger of 3M’s liability could potentially run into the billions.
“Do the mathematics for the variety of plaintiffs, which is north of 200,000, and take the common settlement value – basic math that may get you way north of $10 billion to $20 billion,” JPMorgan analyst Stephen Tusa told CNBC. 3M told CNBC that the estimates were “completely speculative.”
“We are going to proceed to defend cases. However the overwhelming majority of those claims are incomplete,” said Rucker.
In a legal maneuver to secure 3M, the corporate’s lawyers attempted to place its subsidiary Aearo Technologies out of business protection and put aside a $1 billion trust fund to settle the lawsuits. Site members suing 3M accuse the corporate of using the bankruptcy as a defense and asked the judge to dismiss the lawsuit.
A verdict on a possible release is predicted in April. Oral arguments on appeals from Bellwether’s preliminary trials are scheduled for May 1.
As for Frei, he expects his case to go to court by the tip of the yr.
“It pisses me off,” Frei told CNBC, accusing 3M of “attempting to conspire through bankruptcy or these arguments to attempt to avoid being held accountable for what they did.”