Eleventh Circuit Hears 3M Appeal on Revisiting Earplug Rulings

Lawyers for 3M Co. and a veteran fielded a barrage of questions from the Eleventh Circuit on whether the company can relitigate issues in bankruptcy court that a district judge already decided in earplug personal injury litigation that’s yielded more than $250 million in verdicts.

The relitigation question is part of multi-pronged litigation over claims by more than 230,000 veterans who allege that badly designed combat earplugs made by 3M unit Aearo Technologies LLC damaged their hearing.

At issue in Tuesday’s argument is an injunction issued last August by Judge M. Casey Rodgers, who presides over the multidistrict litigation. ...