Posted on Thursday, November 3rd, 2022 at 6:30 pm
On October 27, 2022, U.S. District Court Judge M. Casey Rodgers, overseeing the mass tort MDL, entered an order staying, or pausing, the litigation as it relates to the wave orders and trial preparations. Judge Rodgers stated that the goal of this temporary stay is to allow for “both sides to fully engage in settlement negotiations” by “conserving the parties judicial resources.” Beginning this month, the Court ordered that the parties must convene for monthly settlement conferences.
This follows previous developments from August 2022, in which Judge Jeffrey J. Graham, who is overseeing the 3M bankruptcy proceedings in the Southern District of Indiana, declined to extend the automatic litigation stay to 3M and held that 3M earplugs claimants can continue to litigate their claims against 3M. Subsequently, 3M filed an appeal of Judge Graham’s ruling.
Judge Rodgers barred 3M from bringing issues which she has already resolved to bankruptcy court, referencing 3M’s “dissatisfaction with the MDL system, and this court’s legal rulings and multiple jury verdicts against it.” Judge Rodgers also ordered that mediation continue, and conferences were held on September 15 and 16, 2022 with no resolution.
We hope this stay and the ordered conferences will provide for a favorable resolution in this litigation, but that is yet to be seen and we will continue to update once there are further developments. We are diligently working on pushing these cases forward and holding 3M accountable.
To read Judge Rodger’s order in full, click here.