Shares of 3M Co. MMM dropped 1.2% in afternoon trading Friday, after the maker of Post-it Notes, Scotch Tape and N95 facemasks said the Indiana bankruptcy court dismissed the bankruptcy filing of subsidiary Aearo Technologies, which made the Combat Arms earplugs that allegedly resulted in hear loss and tinnitus. Aearo, which 3M acquired in 2008, had filed for bankruptcy in July 2022 to establish a trust to resolve all claims, which could be in the billions of dollars, but lawyers for the plaintiffs filed to dismiss the bankruptcy, calling it “contrived.” On Friday, 3M and Aearo said they will pursue an appeal of the dismissal ruling, and will continue to defend the product in litigation. Bryan Aylstock, the lead plaintiffs’ counsel, said in an emailed statement to MarketWatch: “Judge Graham’s ruling rightly repudiates 3M’s cowardly attempt to delay justice for the hundreds of thousands of veterans harmed by the company’s dangerously defective earplugs. This gambit by 3M was a gross misuse of the bankruptcy courts, and we are pleased Judge Graham rightly dismissed it.” 3M’s stock has shed 17.0% year to date, to make it the worst performer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA this year.
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