3M Earplug Lawsuit: Parties Propose Single-Track Litigation

Introduction

Attorneys representing plaintiffs and defendants associated with 3M Earplug lawsuits have requested to allow individual personal injury claims and class action complaints to proceed on a single litigation track.

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) on April 2019, decided to consolidate the cases due to common questions of fact and law presented in the claims. However, weeks after the cases were transferred to Judge Rodgers and pretrial schedules were established, a motion was filed to establish a separate class-action track. The motion was established stating there were significant differences between the individual hearing loss claims and class-action lawsuits. Judge Rodgers was also asked to form a separate leadership group and schedule for the pretrial proceedings involving claims that seek class-action certification.

Following the motion, a memorandum of opposition was filed last week by both 3M Company and plaintiffs current leadership council, urging Judge Rodgers to reject the separate litigation track, indicating that all parties will benefit from one coordinated track.

U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers is presiding over all injury lawsuits filed under MDL No. 2885 (In Re: 3M Combat Arms Earplug Litigation) in the Northern District of Florida against Minnesota-based 3M.

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