3M Faces Earplug Test Trial as Vast Litigation Takes Shape

A jury should decide whether an Army veteran filed timely hearing-loss claims against 3M Co. over its combat earplugs, as well as aspects of her fraud-based claims, a federal court in Florida ruled in an upcoming test case set for trial.

3M and its Aearo Technologies LLC subsidiary also aren’t entitled to summary judgment on Michelle Blum’s New York consumer-protection claim on the basis that she used the earplugs as a soldier rather than as a consumer, Judge M. Casey Rodgers said Monday for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. The companies’ marketing campaign was consumer-oriented, ...