Writy.
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Finance
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Tech
  • World
  • Shop
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Finance
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Tech
  • World
  • Shop
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
Writy.
No Result
View All Result
3M Faces $100 Billion in Losses From Veterans’ Earplug Suits, Expert Says

3M Faces $100 Billion in Losses From Veterans’ Earplug Suits, Expert Says

Chrys Hendricks by Chrys Hendricks
August 17, 2022
in Finance
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

You might also like

Big Tech companies could see even more layoffs ahead: analyst

Big Tech companies could see even more layoffs ahead: analyst

March 22, 2023
EV-Maker Nio Surges, Says ‘Very Confident’ of Hitting Sales Goal

EV-Maker Nio Surges, Says ‘Very Confident’ of Hitting Sales Goal

March 22, 2023

(Bloomberg) — 3M Co. faces more than $100 billion in losses and bankruptcy because of lawsuits brought by veterans who blame their hearing problems on faulty earplugs, according to a litigation consultant hired by lawyers suing the industrial conglomerate.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Initial results from a handful of test cases shows 3M would be swamped by losses should the more than 230,000 lawsuits related to the company’s military earplugs business go forward, the plaintiff’s adviser J.B. Heaton testified in bankruptcy court Tuesday.

“It is more and more likely within the next several years we’ll see a 3M bankruptcy, yes,” Heaton told US Bankruptcy Judge Jeffrey J. Graham during a hearing in federal court in Indianapolis.

“We strongly disagree with this unsupported and clearly flawed speculation,” company communications manager Sean Lynch said in an emailed statement. “3M has committed to provide $1 billion to a trust for claimants determined to be entitled to compensation.”

Some advocates for the suing soldiers want Graham to block 3M from paying any shareholder dividends, buying back any of its stock or spinning off any assets, if the judge also decides to halt the lawsuits.

Restricting how 3M spends its cash will protect money and other assets that could be used to compensate soldiers who have had their hearing damaged by the earplugs, the advocates said in court papers.

The company has a paid shareholders a regular dividend for at least a decade. Currently the quarterly payment is $1.49 per share.

Company lawyers disputed Heaton’s findings during the hearing, arguing that the 19 cases in which juries returned verdicts are outliers and cannot be used to extrapolate results for the other cases. Heaton, a former trial lawyer who now studies corporate litigation, acknowledged that the sample is small and that a judge may conclude $100 billion is not realistic.

3M is in federal court trying to convince Graham to halt the lawsuits while the company’s earplugs subsidiary reorganizes in bankruptcy.

Last month, the company put its Aearo Technologies unit into bankruptcy in Indianapolis as a way to resolve the claims. Under Chapter 11 rules, Aearo is automatically entitled to freeze lawsuits it faces, but because 3M itself didn’t file bankruptcy a judge must agree to give the industrial conglomerate the same protection.

The bankruptcy is Aearo Technologies LLC, 22-02890, United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana (Indianapolis).

(Updates with demand from plaintiff lawyers for halt to 3M dividends in the fifth paragraph.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

Chrys Hendricks

Chrys Hendricks

Related Stories

Big Tech companies could see even more layoffs ahead: analyst

Big Tech companies could see even more layoffs ahead: analyst

by Chrys Hendricks
March 22, 2023
0

The job cuts in Big Tech might not be over just yet. That’s according to D.A. Davidson Analyst Tom Forte,...

EV-Maker Nio Surges, Says ‘Very Confident’ of Hitting Sales Goal

EV-Maker Nio Surges, Says ‘Very Confident’ of Hitting Sales Goal

by Chrys Hendricks
March 22, 2023
0

(Bloomberg) -- Nio Inc. is “very confident” of meeting its target of doubling sales to 250,000 electric vehicles this year,...

Elon Musk says what he thinks the Fed should do with interest rates

Elon Musk says what he thinks the Fed should do with interest rates

by Chrys Hendricks
March 22, 2023
0

Elon Musk on late Monday offered his opinion on what the Federal Reserve should do with its benchmark interest rate.The...

Tesla Is Outpacing Rivals in Europe. Price Cuts Are Paying Off.

Tesla Price Cuts Show There’s a Method to Musk’s Madness

by Chrys Hendricks
March 22, 2023
0

Tesla Price Cuts Show There’s a Method to Musk’s Madness

Next Post
Dermelect’s Flash Sale Is Offering 30 Percent Off Sitewide

Dermelect’s Flash Sale Is Offering 30 Percent Off Sitewide

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

© 2022 | Multiplexnews.net

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Finance
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Tech
  • World
  • Shop
  • Contact Us

© 2022 | Multiplexnews.net