3M Earplug Lawsuit: How the $6B Settlement Ended It (2026)

What the 3M Earplug Lawsuit Was About

The 3M earplug lawsuit centered on the Dual-Ended Combat Arms – Version 2 earplug, known as the CAEv2. Aearo, which is now a 3M subsidiary, began selling it in about 1999. One end blocked noise fully. The other end was meant to dampen loud blasts while still letting soldiers hear nearby voices and commands.

Plaintiffs said the plug did not stay sealed. They argued it was too short to seat deeply in many ear canals, so it could work loose without the wearer noticing. The result, they claimed, was hearing loss and/or tinnitus – a constant ringing or buzzing in the ears.

The spark came in 2018. That July, 3M paid $9.1 million to resolve federal allegations that it sold the earplugs to the military without disclosing design flaws. The government made no finding of liability, and the whistleblower who raised the issue received $1,911,000. Once that deal went public, veterans began filing their own personal injury lawsuits.

How the Cases Became the Largest MDL on Record

An MDL, or multidistrict litigation, groups similar federal lawsuits under one judge so shared evidence is handled once. When the federal panel created this one in April 2019, it covered eight lawsuits in four districts, with 635 related cases already filed in 33 other districts.

The numbers then exploded. By the September 2026 report, 391,225 actions had passed through the MDL at some point. Judge Rodgers ran discovery, expert challenges and test trials from Pensacola while a parallel group of cases moved through state court in Hennepin County, Minnesota.

Bellwether Trials and Jury Verdicts

Bellwether trials are early test cases that show both sides how juries may react to the evidence. In the first one, held in April 2021, jurors awarded $7.1 million to three Army veterans with hearing loss and tinnitus. 3M won the second trial in May 2021.

The third trial produced a split result. Jurors found the earplug was not defective but ruled 3M failed to warn users. They valued veteran Lloyd Baker's damages at $1.7 million and held 3M responsible for 62% of that amount.

By May 2022, the picture was clear. Plaintiffs had won 10 of the 16 bellwether trials, for a combined total of nearly $300 million. The biggest single award went to James Beal, who served in the Army from 2005 to 2011 and said the plugs failed him while he handled weapons. 3M said it planned to appeal.

3M's Bankruptcy Attempt and Why It Failed

With losses piling up, 3M changed tactics. In July 2022, its subsidiary Aearo filed for Chapter 11, a type of bankruptcy that pauses lawsuits while a company reorganizes. At the time, about 115,000 claims were active in the MDL and another 120,000 sat on a separate administrative docket. The plan would have moved all of them into a single $1 billion trust.

The strategy collapsed in June 2023. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Jeffrey Graham in Indianapolis ruled that Aearo, backed by 3M, had too much financial security to qualify for bankruptcy protection. He called the filing "fatally premature" because neither company faced real money trouble. That sent nearly 260,000 pending cases back into the regular court system and put pressure on 3M to settle.

How the $6 Billion Settlement Worked

Less than three months after the bankruptcy ruling, 3M reached a global deal. The settlement covered claims in the Florida MDL, the coordinated Minnesota state cases and potential future claims. 3M did not admit liability and maintained the earplugs were safe when used properly.

The deal only took effect if at least 98% of eligible claimants signed on. By March 2024, more than 249,000 of over 293,000 claimants had registered, and courts had dismissed more than 41,000 other claims. Once participation topped 99%, 3M started making scheduled payments that run through 2029. It also chose to pay the $1 billion stock portion in cash instead.

Money flows through several programs. Most claimants chose a fast-track, flat payment, while others went through a more detailed review that assigned points based on injury severity. As of September 2026, payouts by program included:

• $2.40 billion to 232,434 claimants in the EPP, the program that holds the vast majority of claimants
• $224.5 million to DPP claimants, through $1,000 registration payments and a first cycle of points-based awards
• $212.3 million to all 1,595 Wave claimants and $13.9 million to 531 Wave extraordinary injury awardees
• $135 million to the 13 verdict cases, all fully paid
• $98 million in MSA I extraordinary injury awards – only 49% of the first payment cycle

The biggest unfinished piece is that last fund. Of 35,272 MSA I extraordinary injury awardees, 17,839 were still waiting on their first-cycle payment. Points-based awards are paid in cycles, and in August 2026 the program announced cycles 2 through 5 along with new court directions on how those awards get paid.

Where the Case Stands in 2026

The courtroom phase is over. The MDL court confirmed in September 2025 that all federal MDL cases were resolved, and the latest federal report lists only two open actions. What remains is paying claimants. 3M still carried $1.9 billion in earplug liabilities on its books as of June 30, 2026, meaning a large share of the settlement money has not yet gone out.

Some legal activity continues outside the United States. In its latest filing, 3M said it knows of a writ of summons filed in Australia and received a formal pre-lawsuit letter in the United Kingdom, both on behalf of people who say they used the earplugs. For U.S. veterans, though, the deal set the terms, and the remaining step is collecting scheduled payments.