3M
(NYSE: MMM)
today announced that it will pay $6 billion in cash and stock for the rest of the decade to resolve hundreds of thousands of veterans lawsuits over faulty earplugs.
Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal previously reported that 3M was close to reaching a settlement. The agreement with negotiating plaintiffs’ attorneys has the manufacturing giant paying $5 billion in cash and $1 billion in stock between 2023 and 2029.
3M structured the agreement to promote participation by claimants and is intended to resolve all claims associated with subsidiary Aearo Technologies’ Combat Arms Earplug products. The agreement includes all claims in the multi-district litigation in Florida and in the coordinated state court action in Minnesota, as well as potential future claims. The Florida and Minnesota courts are entering orders to support the implementation of the agreement, according to 3M.
Hundreds of thousands of veterans said the company’s earplugs failed to protect them from hearing loss.
3M said today that it does not admit liability in the settlement. The company said: “The products at issue in this litigation are safe and effective when used properly. 3M is prepared to continue to defend itself in the litigation if certain agreed terms of the settlement agreement are not fulfilled.”
The $6 billion settlement comes on top of a proposed 13-year, $10.3 billion settlement with public water systems across the U.S. for testing and cleanup related to so-called “forever chemicals.”
Meanwhile, 3M continues to move forward with plans to spin off its Health Care business as a separate company by late 2023 or early 2024 — a move that earplug lawsuit plaintiffs’ lawyers had opposed because they said it could reduce resources to support lawsuit payments.