- Two US military veterans have allegedly sued 3M Co mmm to block the proposed spin-off of its healthcare business, calling it an illegal attempt not to compensate veterans for hearing damage caused by the company’s military-grade earplugs.
- The veterans’ lawsuits allege that the earplugs did not protect their hearing during combat or training.
- Reuters reported that the case is expected to be brought before US District Judge M. Casey Rodgers, who is presiding over 220,000 lawsuits over the earplugs.
- Related: 3M Plans Healthcare Business Spin-off; Subsidiary Aearo initiates insolvency proceedings.
- “Fortunately, the law doesn’t allow companies to give away their assets to shareholders if it doesn’t allow them to pay their debts,” said Ashley Keller, an attorney for the veterans.
- The lawsuit comes after an Indianapolis bankruptcy court rejected 3M’s efforts to drop the cases before Rodgers and instead resolve the veterans’ claims through the bankruptcy of 3M subsidiary Aearo Technologies LLC, the original maker of the Combat Arms Earplugs Version 2 .
- The company has lost 10 of the 16 earplug cases that went to court, with 13 plaintiffs being awarded approximately $265 million.
- Price promotion: MMM shares are down 2.62% to $122.34 on the last check Friday.
- Photo by succo from Pixabay
© 2022 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Read full story here https://www.benzinga.com/m-a/22/09/28736046/veterans-file-lawsuit-to-block-3m-healthcare-spinoff-report
