3Ms

Nathan Frei, a former active-duty infantry officer who served from 2011 to 2015, first noticed issues with his hearing in 2013, shortly after returning from training with the U.S. Army. Nate was identified with tinnitus and now is one of more than 200,000 claimants suing 3M over its Combat Arms earplugs.Nathan FreiFormer active duty U.S. army infantry officer Nathan Frei says from 2011 to 2015 he went through some of the most intense training that the U.S. Army had to offer. With it, came loud noises — everything from…

Facing thousands of lawsuits from veterans, 3M Co. MMM 6.74% on Tuesday sought bankruptcy protection for a subsidiary that makes military-grade earplugs and booked a $1.2 billion charge to resolve litigation.3M said that its Aearo Technologies unit and related business have started Chapter 11 proceedings stemming from the earplug litigation. The company has committed $1 billion to fund a trust to pay out claimants during the proceedings and $240 million to fund expected…