NASHVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – A U.S. Army veteran has filed a lawsuit in federal court in the Middle District of Tennessee against two companies that produced Combat Arms Earplugs.
According to a release from Business Wire, Veteran George Dooley and his attorneys say he suffered from hearing loss and tinnitus caused by his use as an infantry officer, including in Iraq, of defective and unreasonably dangerous Dual-Ended Combat Arms™ Earplugs (Version 2 CAEv2).
The complaint alleges that 3M Company and Aearo Technologies knew the earplugs were defective prior to selling them, but falsified test results and misrepresented the earplugs’ performance to qualify for a multi-million dollar contract with the United States military.
According to the complaint, this led to the hearing injuries sustained by George Dooley in training and on active military duty.
“As a combat veteran and active duty soldier, I trusted 3M’s Combat Arms Earplugs to protect my hearing in dangerous situations, including while I was deployed in Iraq,” Dooley said in a statement. “They broke that trust with me and thousands of soldiers. My fellow soldiers and I deserved better.”
As stated in the complaint, 3M sold its Combat Arms Earplugs to the U.S. military for more than a decade, and the Earplugs were standard issue in certain branches of the military (including Mr. Dooley’s) between at least 2003 and at least 2015.
Dooley’s legal representation says 3M’s Combat Arms Earplugs have “likely caused thousands, if not millions, of soldiers to suffer significant hearing loss, tinnitus, and additional related injuries, like those of Mr. Dooley.”
According to Business Wire, in July of 2018, 3M agreed to pay $9.1 million to resolve allegations that it knowingly sold the Dual-Ended Combat Arms™ Earplugs to the United States military without disclosing defects.
“This is a breach of the public trust,” noted Mark Chalos, a partner at Lieff Cabraser who is representing Mr. Dooley in his case. “George Dooley was deployed in the U.S. armed forces to defend our country. While protecting the U.S., Mr. Dooley was outfitted with allegedly defective combat earplugs, which led to irreparable hearing loss and debilitating, permanent ringing in his ears. These manufacturers did wrong by Mr. Dooley and our other brave soldiers.”