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(Reuters) – Two U.S. military veterans on Thursday sued 3M Co to block its planned spinoff of its healthcare business, which they called an illegal attempt to avoid compensating veterans for hearing damage caused by the company’s military-issue earplugs.
The veterans said in a lawsuit in federal court in Pensacola, Florida, that the spinoff was “little more than a formalism” intended to “wall off” assets, violating a Florida law barring debtors from fraudulently transferring assets in order to shield them from creditors.
The case is expected to go before U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers, who is already overseeing more than 220,000 lawsuits over the earplugs and has been harshly critical of the company’s legal strategy.
3M did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
