Communicating Authentically

In my work as a content manager for the marketing department of TorkLaw, a personal injury law firm, I’ve recently come across two cases that keenly illustrate why laws and regulations aren’t enough to prevent corporate fraud, and highlight the need for tort law to protect public safety.

In a country of laws, most people assume that the corporations we trust to provide high-quality products and services are, in fact, abiding by those laws. Unfortunately, public trust in corporate actions is too often misplaced. The following two cases are probably the most egregious examples I’ve come across of corporations who have taken advantage of the public’s trust, all in the name of higher profits.

3M Earplugs Placed U.S. Soldiers Hearing at Risk

Between 2003 and 2015, the Defense Logistics Agency distributed “selective attenuation earplugs” as standard equipment for soldiers in U.S. conflicts overseas. These devices were manufactured by 3M under the name brand Combat Arms™ Earplugs (CAEv2). 3M, a Minnesota-based company, recently agreed to pay the U.S. government $9.1 million to resolve a lawsuit claiming that the company knew these earplugs were defective and sold them to the military anyway.

The original product was made by Aearo Technologies, which 3M acquired in 2008. The earplugs were “dual-ended,” with two tiny rubber cones pointing in opposite directions, connected by a stem in the middle. When inserted one way, they were meant to protect the wearer by blocking all noise. When inserted the other way, the high-decibel sounds like gunfire and explosions would be diminished, while still allowing soldiers to communicate with each other verbally.

3M discontinued the CAEv2 in 2015; however, the discontinuation notice did not mention any defect, and they did not issue a recall. The next year, Moldex-Metric, Inc. a 3M competitor, filed a lawsuit under the “whistleblower” section of the False Claims Act, claiming that 3M’s product was dangerously defective. The suit stated that the stem between the cones was too short to remain properly inserted; they would loosen in the wearer’s ear, without the wearer noticing, and permit damaging sounds to bombard the wearer’s eardrums. Some of the exhibits presented in the case were news articles about the prevalence of hearing loss among post 9-11 veterans. In fact, the Veterans Benefits Administration’s 2016 Annual Benefits Report lists tinnitus (buzzing or ringing in the ears) and hearing loss as the two top service-related disabilities, impacting almost 2.7 million U.S. veterans annually.

According to the complaint, Aearo had been aware of their product’s defect as early as 2000, and that both 3M and Aearo Technologies manipulated test results to make it appear that the product met government compliance standards.

If that is true, then 3M, rather than suffer a monetary loss, willfully risked causing high occurrences of tinnitus, and partial or full hearing loss in service members who wore them during combat. The consequences of these conditions are severe and include anxiety, depression, social isolation, withdrawal, loneliness, irritability, fatigue, reduced alertness, reduced earning capacity, and diminished overall health and quality of life.

Our American service members deserve better.

Goodyear Sued by Shareholders for Covering Up Defective Tires that Killed 12

During the fourth quarter of 2018, a group of shareholders in Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, based in Akron, Ohio, sued Goodyear’s CEO and Board for fraudulently covering up problems with a tire marketed for recreational vehicles.

According to court documents, the tire in question, Goodyear G159 (size 275/70R22.5) was never designed for RVs – it was designed for urban delivery vehicles that were much lighter and drove at much slower speeds. But it fit on RVs, so Goodyear went ahead and marketed them that way, regardless. Furthermore, the suit claims, Goodyear knew the tire was unsafe — complaints started rolling in almost immediately about tire blowouts and tread separation.

Court documents show that Goodyear’s own internal tests confirmed that the tires were unsafe at speeds over 65mph or belt edge temperatures over 194 degrees Fahrenheit. But at the time, many U.S. states had raised highway speed limits to 75mph, a speed at which the tires’ belt edge temperatures tested at 229 degrees. Did they take the safe but costly step to recall the tires? No. Did they notify tire retailers and RV manufacturers that the tires were only safe up to 65mph? Nope.

Instead, what Goodyear did was to raise the G159’s speed rating to 75 mph, knowing full well that a percentage of those tires would fail when driven on motor homes.

Since that time, crashes caused by blowouts and tread separation of the Goodyear G159 tires on their recreational vehicles have killed 12 individuals, injured over 100, spurred 41 lawsuits, more than 616 property damage claims, and almost 3500 warranty claims. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has launched an investigation that may cost Goodyear up to $105 million. Goodyear still claims the tires are safe.

U.S. companies that offer products and services to American consumers have a lawful responsibility to ensure that their offerings are safe. When companies like 3M and Uber breach the public’s trust in them, it tears at the very fabric of our society.

It’s true that no amount of money will bring back those killed due to Goodyear tire blowouts, or the hearing of U.S. veterans harmed by 3M’s defective earplugs. But my hope is that lawsuits against firms who are guilty of placing the public in danger will accomplish a few things.

First, their malfeasance will be exposed to consumers who can then choose other companies with which to do business. Second, the plaintiffs who have been victimized will receive compensation to help make them whole, or at least, make their post-injury lives a bit easier. Third, that the damages these companies are forced to pay will serve as a deterrent, both to them, and to other companies who may be using similar tactics, to do the right thing, and take the required steps to begin operating with ethics and integrity.