3M to pay $6b in military earplugs lawsuit

3M announced recently that it will pay $6 billion to settle almost 260,000 lawsuits against its Combat Arms earplugs between 2023 and 2029.

The agreement will include $5 billion in cash and $1 billion in common stock of 3M, the Minnesota-based conglomerate.

The earplugs were made by Aearo Technologies, a company that 3M acquired in 2008. The US military used the earplugs in training and combat from 2003 to 2015, including in operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Plaintiffs for the military members in the lawsuits claimed that the company hid design flaws, tweaked test results and failed to provide instructions for the proper use of the earplugs, leading to hearing damage.

The company said in a statement that the settlement is intended to resolve all claims associated with the Combat Arms earplug products as well as potential future claims.

3M faces thousands of other lawsuits relating to the forever chemical PFAS. Earlier this year, 3M had agreed to a $12.5 billion settlement with multiple US public water systems to resolve water pollution claims that the company's forever chemicals contaminated soil, groundwater and other public water systems.

In early June, DuPont, Chemours and Corteva agreed to pay $1.185 billion for PFAS-related drinking water claims with 300 local water systems that had sued the three companies for the costs of cleaning and filtering their wells and aquifers.

A recent study by the US Geological Survey showed that at least 45 percent of the nation's tap water is estimated to have one or more types of the forever chemicals.

PFAS are widely used in everyday products from the linings of fast-food boxes and nonstick cookware to firefighting foams. They can build up in the human body and pass from mother to newborns because of PFAS' slow breakdown.

The US Environmental Agency listed health risks posed by PFAS, including negatively affecting reproductivity, children's development, immune systems and the body's natural hormones, and an increased risk to develop prostate, kidney and testicular cancers, obesity and elevated cholesterol levels.

3M's proposed deal would provide funds over 13 years to cities, towns and other public water systems to test and treat contamination of PFAS.

Although California, Texas, New York and other states, 23 in total, had dropped their opposition to block the settlement, the states said they reserve the right to pursue compensation for other PFAS-related claims against 3M.

The agreement with public water systems doesn't stop people from filing individual cases against 3M for personal injury claims.

The legal woes have dropped 3M's stock price by 50 percent in the past five years while the stock market went up by 50 percent, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Attorney Michael London, whose New York-based law firm represents more than 2,000 clients in lawsuits against 3M, told the Journal that more than 10,000 people have made PFAS-related personal-injury claims against 3M and other companies. The plaintiffs have alleged that the forever chemicals are responsible for certain cancers and other diseases.

The company is contesting the claims. 3M has said that decades of study by researchers haven't found a definitive causal link between the chemicals and any illness.

London told the Journal that next month a judge will choose test cases to weigh the strength of personal injury claims.

Some have expressed concerns over 3M's ability to fund all its settlements, but the company is making an effort to shore up the money. 3M said it will receive a onetime payment from the healthcare unit it is spinning off, and analysts have estimated the payment could amount to several billion dollars, the Journal said.

3M is also cutting other costs, and has eliminated 8.500 jobs this year so far, about 10 percent of its total workforce.