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3M Company (NYSE:MMM), which is accused in more than 230,000 lawsuits of hurting U.S. soldiers with faulty battlefield earplugs, has plunged more than 9% Friday after it was reported by Bloomberg that the company has been unsuccessful in its attempt to prevent jury trials.
The report states U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Jeffrey J. Graham turned down a request to suspend the claims filed against 3M and its insolvent company Aearo Technologies for allegedly selling defective battlefield earplugs that damaged the hearing of veterans who used them.
Bloomberg said an increasingly popular strategy, which 3M attempted to use, is seeing profitable companies use insolvency proceedings to push victims of harmful products into settlement talks. On July 26, 3M put Aearo into bankruptcy in Indianapolis.
The judge’s ruling overturns 3M’s choice to settle the disputes by declaring Aearo bankrupt. However, a judge had to agree to grant 3M the same protection because the industrial company didn’t file for bankruptcy itself.
Following the judge’s decision, 3M will likely face jury judgments from throughout the U.S. Bloomberg stated that according to an expert retained by the law firms representing the troops, the business may be held liable for more than $100 billion in damages.
