Is the bankruptcy filing of a small 3M subsidiary — Aearo Technologies — a legitimate move to shield itself from crippling liabilities for allegedly defective military earplugs?
Or is it a sham that would allow 3M itself to greatly limit billions of dollars in liabilities without the messy business of declaring bankruptcy itself?
That's a key question before Jeffrey Graham, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in Indianapolis. His decision will have huge ramifications on how 230,000 earplug lawsuits against 3M will play out — and how much the company will eventually pay out.
