Products Liability Law Reporter

Steven Wilkerson served in the U.S. Army from 1999 until 2002 and was a member of the Army National Guard from 2005 until 2013. From 2010 to 2013, while serving as a combat engineer, he used 3M Co.’s Combat Arms Earplug Version 2 (CAEv2) as his primary method of hearing protection.

While using the CAEv2 earplugs, he was exposed to noise from military vehicles, weapons, and explosions during training and combat. Now 43, Wilkerson suffers from tinnitus and profound noise-induced sensorineural hearing loss.

Wilkerson sued 3M Co., alleging claims for strict liability design defect, failure to warn, negligent design defect and failure to warn, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty, negligent misrepresentation, fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, fraud and deceit, gross negligence, negligence per se, consumer fraud, and unjust enrichment. The plaintiff sought punitive damages.

The defense argued that Wilkerson had failed to mitigate his damages by not wearing hearing aids until 2017, by not attending cognitive behavior therapy, and by failing to decrease his caffeine consumption.

The jury awarded $8 million in compensatory damages.

Citation: Wilkerson v. 3M Co., No. 7:20-cv-00035-MCR-GRJ (N.D. Fla. Mar. 25, 2022).

Plaintiff counsel: Thomas W. Pirtle, AAJ member Katherine Cornell, AAJ member Buffy Martines, and AAJ member Amanda Hunt, all of Houston; Adam Wolfson, Los Angeles; AAJ member Ashley Barriere, New Orleans; AAJ member Matthew Hosen, Seattle; and Emily Curran, Birmingham, Ala.