3M Client Status Updates - Junell Law - Harris Junell, Deborah Levy

3M Earplugs Litigation Status Update

LAST UPDATED 11/18/2024

Important: Please bookmark this page for future reference as we will post all updates here regarding the 3M litigation. Additionally, you may reach us by phone or text at 844-407-1256, or via e-mail at 3M@junell-law.com if you have any questions about the litigation as a whole or regarding your case specifically.

A Note About Confidentiality

Under the Release you signed, on page 21, there is a Confidentiality Provision. Under that section, you agreed with 3M “to maintain in confidence, and shall not disclose to any person, the amount of any Individual Plaintiff Settlement Payment, except as may be required by applicable Law.” You also signed in this Release, that “I agree that if I breach this confidentiality provision, money damages would not be a sufficient remedy and, accordingly, without limitation of any other remedies that may be available at law or in equity, 3M shall be entitled to specific performance and injunctive or other equitable relief as remedies for such breach.” Such remedies may include, but are not limited to, giving back your settlement funds, being sued and other actions taken against you. Junell & Associates recommends that you please consider this provision and refrain from publishing anything about your Individual Plaintiff Settlement Payment because it is in violation of your Settlement Agreement.

Settlement Update 11/4/2024

EPP: Brown Greer and the Special Master have now reviewed all Servicemembers who enrolled in the Expedited Payment Program. The Special Master has started to ask for records in a few cases where we have requested reconsideration so please respond in a timely manner if you receive an email or phone call asking for additional information. We are only given a short timeline to provide this additional information.

DPP: Brown Greer has received the gross $1,000 payment for each Deferred Payment Program Servicemember. Upon inquiry, Brown Greer stated they have several steps to accomplish before they can release this money. Brown Greer advised they anticipate that the DPP gross $1,000 payment will be distributed to the firm by December 31, 2024. Once we receive the funds for our Servicemembers in the DPP, you will receive an email with the settlement ledger and further information. When you receive that email, please ensure your mailing address is correct to ensure your check is delivered to the proper address. Also please see the Frequently Asked Questions section for an explanation of the 50% Rule the Court has instituted. After you sign the settlement ledger, you will receive another email from us within 7-10 business days with further information about your settlement funds.

Settlement Update 10/14/2024

EPP: Brown Greer and the Special Master have now reviewed 229,314 of the 233,083 Servicemembers who enrolled in this program. They have now also paid out those individuals through FIFO III payment group. Those with a reconsideration, bankruptcy or probate issue have to be approved by Brown Greer to release the payment. 3M will pay funds for the FIFO IV payment group later in October, which will then be reviewed and ultimately distributed by Brown Greer to the firms. Once we receive the funds for our Servicemembers in the FIFO IV payment group, you will receive an email with the settlement ledger and further information. When you receive that email, please ensure your mailing address is correct to ensure your check is delivered to the proper address. Also please see the Frequently Asked Questions section for an explanation of the 50% Rule the Court has instituted. After you sign the settlement ledger, you will receive another email from us within 7-10 business days with further information about your settlement funds.

We continue to receive Initial Determinations for FIFO Payment Groups V and VI, which are scheduled for payout in January 2025 and April 2025 respectively. If the Initial Determination is less than we stated on your Registration Form, using the dates on the Registration form which provided you the most recovery, we will be filing for Reconsideration and making an argument that you should be compensated more money for your injuries. Brown Greer has an internal deadline of at least 30 days to make its reconsideration determination, but we have found it is more like 60-90 days for their decision. We have also noted that Brown Greer has now started to ask for documents proving time in service when reviewing some reconsideration requests, so if we do reach out to you please respond in a timely manner.

DPP: Once the EPP Servicemembers receive their initial determinations, we expect the Brown Greer and the Special Master to start reviewing the DPP medical records. To date, they have not reviewed any of these cases. The Special Master and Court have worked out that each Servicemember who signed up for the DPP program will receive your contractual portion of the $1,000 gross payment as an initial payment for entering this program. 3M will pay funds for this DPP initial payment later in October, which will then be reviewed and ultimately distributed by Brown Greer to the firms. Once we receive the funds for our Servicemembers in the DPP, you will receive an email with the settlement ledger and further information. When you receive that email, please ensure your mailing address is correct to ensure your check is delivered to the proper address. Also please see the Frequently Asked Questions section for an explanation of the 50% Rule the Court has instituted. After you sign the settlement ledger, you will receive another email from us within 7-10 business days with further information about your settlement funds.

Tricare Liens: A global resolution was worked out with Tricare to resolve their liens. Each participating Tricare beneficiaries will pay $49 from their Settlement Awards to satisfy all of Tricare’s claims against an Servicemember’s award. Brown Greer will also apply a $5 administrative fee to account for all costs associated with implementation – to prevent non-Tricare or non-participating claims from absorbing the cost of dealing with Tricare issues on others – resulting in a total deduction for Tricare of $54 from each participating Servicemember’s award. In light of this agreement, 301 Servicemembers who previously had money withheld for a Tricare lien have now had the remainder of their funds released to our firm. We hope to proceed with the payout process for those 301 Servicemembers in the next 7-10 business days. For those Servicemembers for whom Brown Greer has not released their funds yet, and who received Tricare, this global resolution should mean Brown Greer will subtract $54 from your portion of the award to pay for the Tricare lien and not have to withhold any larger amount for Tricare.

Settlement Update 8/6/2024

EPP: We have not received all Initial Determinations for the FIFO Payment Group III and we have inquired about those who are pending. In addition, Brown Greer has not released money for individuals who filed bankruptcy after the use of the Combat Arms Earplugs Version 2 or who have passed away, unless certain criteria are met. Everyone else in FIFO III payment group, we have emailed you the settlement ledger to the last email address you provided us with. When you receive that email, please ensure your mailing address is correct to ensure your check is delivered to the proper address. Also please see the Frequently Asked Questions section for an explanation of the 50% Rule the Court has instituted. After you sign the settlement ledger, you will receive another email from us within 7-10 business days with further information about your settlement funds.

We are currently receiving Initial Determinations for FIFO Payment Groups IV and V, which are scheduled for payout in October 2024 and January 2025 respectively. For FIFO payout numbers, this means Brown Greer is at least halfway through the EPP claimants for providing an Initial Determination. If the Initial Determination is less than the Level we stated on your Registration Form, we will be filing for Reconsideration and making an argument that you should be compensated more money for your injuries. The injury category we will be arguing for will match what we initially put on your Registration Form. Brown Greer has an internal deadline of at least 30 days to make its reconsideration determination, but we have found it is more like 60-90 days for their decision.

DPP: The Special Master has received all medical records for all individuals who we registered for the Deferred Payment Program (DPP). We now must wait for the Special Master to render his decision on the number of points each DPP case is worth. If it is not consistent with the points we calculated in your case, we will be filing for Reconsideration and arguing for more points which equates to more money. Only once all points are assigned for every DPP registrant will we know the dollar value of each point. We have inquired with Brown Greer as to when the DPP individuals will be paid. We have been told late October 2024, there will be a $1,000 gross amount paid to each individual DPP registrant and then in late 2025, all points will be converted into a dollar value and payouts will start.

Settlement Update 7/18/2024

Per the Settlement Administrator and the Court, the deposit from 3M defense was scheduled for deposit on 7/15/24 for FIFO Payment Group III. We wanted to put you on notice that on 7/17/24 at 5:15 PM we received notice Brown Greer has started the process to send us the FIFO III payments (unless there was a pending lien, bankruptcy, probate issue, or we are appealing your case to argue for more money). We are working diligently to send you an accounting ledger with a breakdown of the gross fees, expenses, and the net amount you will be receiving.

For the cases we are appealing on your behalf, the average time it takes Brown Greer to review and respond to the appeal is not the 30-day internal deadline they previously announced, and it is more likely 60 days or longer. This is out of our control, but we will be committed to following up with BrownGreer to try and expedite your appeal.

The ledger will be an electronic document that you will receive within 30 days of us receiving the funds from Brown Greer. It will be an electronic document that you sign, and it will automatically be sent back to us. Once you sign off on your ledger the settlement check will be sent via FedEx or USPS 7-10 business days later. We have found that with the huge amount of fraud involved in direct deposits and bank wire transfers that sending you a check with tracking is the safest way to ensure you get the money you deserve. It takes some time for the wire to be deposited into our account from Brown Greer and to ensure all the money for your case were received because we want you to receive as much money we can get you.

As you know through the national news, Houston was hit by hurricane Beryl at the beginning of July. Most businesses and homes were without electricity or internet causing various delays. We are working diligently to catch up with phone calls, emails, text, and the processing of payments. We appreciate your patience during this time.

Settlement Update 7/3/2024 (EPP FIFO Update & Check Cashing Tips)

The Settlement Claims Administrator (Brown Greer) has been sending Initial Notices of Determinations for many of the EPP cases even over FIFO number 100,000. These Notices are not being received in FIFO order and we will email you once we receive your Notice to let you know if it matches what we argued for on your Registration Form you signed back in January 2024 or if we will be arguing for reconsideration.

Once we receive your settlement funds, you will receive a Settlement Ledger and then a check will be issued to you. Some important information regarding check verification and bank policies are:

CHECK VERIFICATION – Please have your bank call the number on the check, (844) 407-1256 (# is printed on the check), to verify the check. Banks cannot verify confidential information. Also please note our regular hours are 8:30am-5pm Monday-Friday Central Time.
BANKS REQUIRE CHECK HOLDS – Check verification procedures can vary from bank to bank, with some holds lasting from 5-14 business days.
CHECK CASHING STORES – Many of them will charge high fees to cash checks and clients have informed us that some stores will not cash their checks. We have learned Walmart for example will not cash these checks.

Settlement Update 4/22/2024 (Timing for EPP Reconsiderations)

The Settlement Claims Administrator (Brown Greer) published Alert Number 24-0022 which states they have adopted an internal rule to call for all reconsideration reviews to be 30 days or longer after filing.

Settlement Update as of 4/23/2024

The Settlement Claims Administrator informed us that a small group of claimants who were in the first two groups of Expedited Payment Program individuals are eligible for payment. We have been informed this should mean that eligible claimants with an Expedited Payment Program number of 1 through 48,665 should be paid. To be eligible for payment,

You must not have a health insurance lien. If you answered that you received Medicaid, Tricare and/or Indian Health Services health insurance, the Settlement Administrator has established a holdback of your settlement funds. The Settlement Administrator will be contacting the company you indicated as providing your health insurance to determine the amount of the lien, if any, and then will determine the amount due to you.
You must not have filed for bankruptcy at any time from the day you first started using the Combat Arms Earplugs to present. If you did have a bankruptcy filing, the Trustee must be contacted and determined if they will release the funds to you before there is a final determination of the amount of money you may receive.

If you do not have a lien, and have not filed a bankruptcy, the process is an itemized a closing ledger will be generated by our accounting department once they are able to confirm your case expenses, liens, or any third-party liens. The closing ledger will be emailed to you and must be signed in order for a payment to be generated. Once the Settlement Administrator has deemed you as an eligible claimant on the payment list, it should take approximately 60 days for you to receive your check.

As a reminder to those Expedited Payment Program claimants, the next payments are being made by 3M to the Settlement Administrator as follows:

October 15, 2024 – $25 million due
January 15, 2025 – $375 million due
January 15, 2026 – $75 million due
April 15, 2026 – $75 million due

DPP cases will receive a nominal amount in October 2024 and then start payouts at the end of 2025.

Settlement Status as of 02/09/2024

The 3M Claims Administrator has changed from Archer System to Brown Greer effective 1/26/2024. Registration for the settlement has now closed. We have achieved the 95% registration and the next steps in the settlement will proceed.

The Special Master’s rules for how the money will be divided are detailed in his Settlement Allocation Methodology. Since registration is now closed, the Special Master will start to review all of the medical records for those involved in the Expedited Payment Program (EPP) to determine the appropriate level of compensation each Servicemember qualifies for. The Special Master will then advise our office in writing of his determination in your case. Once his decision is made, there will be only a short time to ask for reconsideration. The only basis for an appeal will be a clerical error in his review. It is therefore important that you maintain up to date contact information with our office so that we may discuss the Special Master’s findings with you in a timely manner.

On January 26, 2024, the Special Master also began to review the additional information provided for those included in the Deferred Payment Program (DPP). For those enrollees where we recommended you pursue the Deferred Payment Program, we have your audiograms and there is nothing for you to provide. However, those of you who enrolled in the Deferred Payment Program where we did not make such a recommendation, please email us your audiograms from your time in the service to 3M@junell-law.com. We will need to work together on a plan to ensure you receive just compensation. Also, we will be reaching out to you for additional information should the Special Master request it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the global settlement of $6.1 billion?

There are 3 different settlements with three different settlement agreements which total $6.1 billion. 3M is paying in installments to pay out the $6.1 billion. The money is being distributed as:

$133,679,000 to the 13 3M Cases where there was a verdict in the Servicemember’s favor
$253,100,000 to the 1,595 3M Cases which were worked up for trial but did not go to trial. The Special Master assigned each claimant a number of points for the hearing loss and tinnitus, based on their medical records from their time in service, which then converted into a dollar value for each Servicemember in this group
$5.6 billion for about 250,000 Servicemembers which is paid out in installments by 3M. As indicated in the Registration Form, an independent Special Master who works neither for 3M nor any one Servicemember reviews the medical records from the time in service to determine the amount of hearing loss and tinnitus for each individual and assigns them a monetary award in accordance with the Settlement Program you signed up for in the Registration Form.

3M Is Making Payments for the Settlement

The Court has advised that Expedited Payments (EPP cases) will go out using the FIFO methodology of “first in first out”. 3M is due to make the next payments for the settlement as follows:

October 15, 2024 – $25 million due
January 15, 2025 – $375 million due
January 15, 2026 – $75 million due
April 15, 2026 – $75 million due

Deferred Payment Program (DPP) cases will receive $1,000 at the end of October 2024. After that time, all points will be converted into dollars and DPP participants will receive payouts starting at the end of 2025, in installments up until 2029 pursuant to the terms of the settlement. All settlement payments will be distributed through Junell & Associates so again it is important to keep us updated on your contact information to ensure you receive your payment in a timely manner.

What is the 50% Rule?

Brown Greer has published in their Frequently Asked Questions (number 140), the answer to this inquiry.

The 50% Rule applies to all settlement payments to Eligible Claimants. It requires court-appointed CPA, Randall Sansom, to report to the Court each time a claimant receives less than 50% of his or her Final Settlement Award after attorneys’ fees and case-related expenses are deducted. Advances and liens or other payments made on the claimant’s behalf are not part of the 50% Rule calculation.

The following example illustrates how the 50% rule works. In the example below, the Eligible Claimant’s Initial Award is $100,000, and after subtracting the 9% common benefit assessment, the Final Settlement Award is $91,000.00. Thereafter, attorneys’ fees of $36,400.00 and case-related expenses of $5,000 are deducted, which results in a Net Payment to the Eligible Claimant of $49,600.00. Because in this example the Net Payment of $49,600.00 is at least 50% of the Final Settlement Award of $91,000, the Eligible Claimant’s award satisfies the 50% rule.

Gross Settlement Award: $100,000.00
Court-Ordered Common Benefit Assessment (9% of Gross Award) ($9,000.00)
Final Settlement Award: $ 91,000.00
Attorney’s Fees (Using 40% in this example) ($36,400.00) $91,000 x 40% = $36,400.00
Case Expenses (Using $5,000 in this example) ($5,000.00)
Total Attorney’s Fees and Case Expenses ($41,400.00)
Net Payment to Eligible Claimant $49,600.00
*50% Rule Calculation: $49,600/$91,000 = 54%

If the Net Payment to Claimant in the above example was less than $45,500.00, the Eligible Claimant’s award would not meet the 50% rule and Judge Rodgers would be notified before any payment from the QSF is made to anyone in connection with this claimant.

Please note: The 9% Assessment is a court-ordered assessment that does not go to Junell & Associates. In fact, as the 9% Assessment comes off the top it is paid by Junell & Associates and the Client. This Court Ordered Assessment is to reimburse the firms who worked on the general discovery against 3M for expenses common to all Servicemembers across the nation, including but not limited to depositions of 3M employees, document review platforms, and other expenses in working up the general case against 3M for every Servicemember across the nation regardless of law firm.

Confidentiality

Extra-Ordinary Injury Fund (EIF)

The Special Master has released his Methodology for an additional program for injuries over and above the usual damage caused by the faulty earplugs. The EIF program is intended for those who have suffered severe hearing loss and/or tinnitus which goes beyond the scope of the regular EPP or DPP settlement programs. To be eligible for the EIF program, you must have enrolled in the EPP or DPP program by the January 25, 2024 deadline. The Special Master has created a strict criteria for enrollment into this program and we reviewed each client’s records to determine eligibility. We found that less than 5% of cases across the nation were eligible to even apply to the EIF program. It is currently unknown how many of those that applied will receive a reward but per recent communications with the Settlement Administrator these individuals who are accepted into the EIF program will not start to be paid until 2027.

To give an example of how difficult it is to qualify for this program, the Special Master has reviewed the EIF applications for wave cases (2,000 cases worked up for trial). Of those cases where the client and counsel believed the client was eligible for the EIF program:

Next Steps:

We must wait for the Special Master’s review to determine your ultimate settlement offer.
Each registered Servicemember must sign a Medicaid questionnaire. On February 1, 2024, we emailed all registered clients the Medicaid document to sign electronically. This form will be required before payment will be allowed.
We will be reviewing all records to determine those who qualify for the EIF programs and will reach out to those eligible claimants about enrollment in their specific EIF program.

We continue to work zealously on behalf of all our clients through this next phase. Rest assured that you remain in good hands with Junell & Associates.

Thank you,
Your 3M Litigation Team at Junell & Associates

Defective 3M Earplugs Status Updates

3M Earplugs Litigation Status Update