3M to Pay $6 Billion to Settle Military Earplug Lawsuits (2)

3M Co. has agreed to pay $6 billion to resolve hundreds of thousands of lawsuits alleging it sold defective earplugs to the US military that led to hearing damage for combat troops.

The company will pay $5 billion in cash and $1 billion in 3M common stock under the terms of the agreement, it said in a statement on Tuesday. It said it would record a third-quarter pretax charge of about $4.2 billion, on top of the $1.1 billion it has already allocated for the claims. 3M isn’t admitting any “fault or liability” as part of the settlement, according to ...