3M Invites Appeals Court to Undo Earplug Liability on U.S. Role

3M Co. and its Aearo Technologies LLC subsidiary are immune from lawsuits by service members who allege Aearo combat earplugs failed to protect their hearing, the companies told the Eleventh Circuit Friday in a bid to short-circuit the vast litigation.

The appeals come in two of the earliest cases to go to trial. The first test trial resulted in more than $7 million in damages for three veterans. After a second trial that ended in a defense verdict, the service member who presented his case in the third trial obtained $1.7 million.

But a key order 3M and Aearo are ...