Impacted military personnel may be entitled to monetary compensation for hearing impairment or loss due to the use of allegedly defective 3M military issued earplugs

Are you an active military service member or a veteran who suffers from hearing loss or impairment, including tinnitus? Current or former members of the US military who served at any point between 2003 and 2015 may have received Dual-Ended Combat Arms™ Earplugs (CAEv2) to act as a hearing protection device. Allegations against 3M, as well as its predecessor Aearo Technologies, suggest that these earplugs were sold to the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency despite testing results that indicated an inadequate ability to perform as described, due to product defects.

Without knowledge of these defects, the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency distributed these earplugs to military service members across the U.S., as well as to those deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As a result, the thousands of military men and women who used the CAEv2 earplugs put their hearing at risk due to the alleged design defects.

In July 2018, the US Department of Justice announced that 3M would pay $9.1 million under the False Claims Act, in response to allegations that these hearing protection devices did not perform as indicated due to undisclosed defects. The proceeds of this settlement will go directly to the U.S. government and will not be distributed to any military service member negatively impacted by the use of these earplugs.

If you are located in the greater Augusta, GA, area, including Ft. Gordon or Grovetown, or anywhere in the state of Georgia, contact The Hawk Firm today at (706) 429-5529 or using the contact form below to discuss whether you may be entitled for compensation for use of these earplugs.