The final 3M earplug bellwether trial concluded this afternoon and the result was the largest amount awarded to single plaintiff so far. After a 2-week trial, the federal jury in Pensacola awarded Army veteran James Beal a total of $77.5 million in damages for his claims that 3M’s defective ear plugs caused hearing loss and tinnitus. This award brings the total amount of damages in the bellwether trials to $299,620,320 million.
Average award is now $16,649,573!
The verdict for veteran James Beal is the largest yet for an individual in a sprawling litigation over the earplugs that as of May 16 included more than 290,000 claims in the Pensacola court, by far the largest mass tort litigation in U.S. history.
Beal's trial was the last of an initial set of 16 trials held to test the strength of plaintiffs' claims and facilitate settlement talks. Of those so-called bellwether trials, plaintiffs prevailed in 10. Juries sided with 3M in the remaining six.
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Ref: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/1-3m-ordered-pay-77-173614314.html
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