has engaged in “bad faith manipulation,” a federal judge quashed the company’s effort to shift responsibility for an avalanche of military earplug lawsuits to a bankrupt subsidiary.
The Maplewood-based industrial giant faces over 200,000 claims in a Florida court — all wrapped into the largest multi-district litigation in U.S. history — presided over by Rodgers. Plaintiffs say 3M’s earplugs were knowingly defective; the company says they were safe.
3M bought Aearo in 2008, and two years later folded the subsidiary’s earplug business into the bigger company. Aearo had developed an earplug, the Combat Arms CAEv2, that was standard issue for the U.S. military for many years.
Corporate mischief to deflect accountability
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