IN RE: 3M COMBAT ARMS EARPLUG PRODUCTS LIABILITY LITIGATION

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
PENSACOLA DIVISION
IN RE: 3M COMBAT ARMS
EARPLUG PRODUCTS
Case No. 3:19md2885
LIABILITY LITIGATION
This Document Relates to:
All Cases
Judge M. Casey Rodgers
Magistrate Judge Hope T. Cannon
ORDER
I have conducted a de novo review of the Special Master’s Report and
Recommendation (“R&R”), ECF No. 4190, as well as the responses of Heninger
Garrison Davis LLC (“HGD”), W. Lewis Garrison and William Bross, ECF No.
4193, and Taylor Bartlett, ECF No. 4194. 	No objections have been raised.
I need not recount the circumstances of this unfortunate situation. 	Special
Master David Herndon has done an exceptional job outlining his investigative
findings and the reasons for his recommendations, and I appreciate his thoughtful
work on this matter.
After careful review and deliberation, and without objection, I adopt Special
Master Herndon’s Findings in their entirety, based on the facts outlined in the R&R,
and incorporate them by reference in this Order.
The Recommendations are ADOPTED IN PART as follows:
Recommendation 1 is adopted in full.
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Recommendation 3 is adopted in part. The following sanctions are imposed
based on individual relative culpability in the unprofessional conduct outlined in the
R&R:
Taylor Bartlett 	$20,000
William Bross 	$10,000
Attorney Bartlett’s sanction is twice Attorney Bross’s sanction considering
that it was Attorney Bartlett who concocted and pushed the idea that he had
somehow found a “loophole” in the Settlement Program that would allow HGD’s
Ugandan clients to be paid a Deferred Payment Program (“DPP”) Registration
Payment of $1,000 with no evidence of hearing loss—when the Allocation Protocol
clearly required “mild or greater hearing loss” to be eligible to participate in the DPP.
This “loophole” and the obstinance and insistence with which it was pushed by
Attorney Bartlett was what first caused me to question the Ugandan claims. I believe
these sanctions will send an appropriate message to those involved and will serve as
an adequate deterrent to them, and others, in the future.
I decline to impose sanctions on HGD in light of the significant financial
repercussions 	to 	the 	law 	firm 	related 	to 	the 	disgorgement 	of 	fees 	and 	the
reimbursement of settlement awards and investigative costs ordered, as outlined
below. I also decline to impose an individual sanction against Attorney W. Lewis
Garrison given the significant financial repercussions to his law firm, as outlined
below. Plus, Attorney Garrison was not involved in submitting the Ugandan claims
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Case No. 3:19md2885/MCR/HTC
to the Settlement Administrator for payment, nor did he personally supervise the
submission of the claims, nor did he push for the “loophole.”.
Recommendation 4 is adopted in full. The 	Court 	directs 	the 	Settlement
Administrator 	to 	process 	the 	four 	HGD 	Ugandan 	clients 	identified 	in
Recommendation 4 as potentially valid to determine if they otherwise qualify for a
Registration Payment or a DPP Point-Based Award.
Recommendation 5 is adopted in full.
Recommendation 6 is adopted in part. 	With the exception of Co-Lead
Counsel, Bryan Aylstock and Chris Seeger, those who devoted time and resources
to the investigation and/or administration of this matter have been compensated by
the QSF as set forth below. I have reviewed their time submissions and am satisfied
the amounts billed are reasonable. I have spoken with Mr. Aylstock and Mr. Seeger,
and both have declined to seek compensation for their work on this matter. To their
credit, both consider the time spent an inherent part of their leadership role.
Recommendations 2 and 7 are not adopted. I do not believe a Bar referral is
warranted given the responses to the R&R submitted and the stiff financial penalties
imposed in this Order, and I know of nothing requiring me to make a Bar referral.
To the extent the attorneys must, or deem it appropriate to, self-report this matter to
their respective current Bar Association(s), or any Bar Association(s) in the future,
the Court assumes the attorneys will do so appropriately and in line with any
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applicable ethical obligations.
In closing, let me say that this Order brings me no pleasure, quite the
contrary—but fraud in any settlement program is a serious matter for obvious
reasons, and any lawyer conduct connected to the fraud, whether through intention,
willful blindness, reckless disregard, or poor client management that allows the fraud
to go undetected, must be met with severe consequences. Absent the measures taken
here, the Combat Arms Settlement Program would suffer, and claimants and counsel
alike would be impacted. Also, absent the measures taken here, other counsel in this
Program and elsewhere, may go undeterred in the future. 	It is my hope that these
measures will help to avoid a similar unfortunate situation from occurring in another
settlement program.
Accordingly, the Court ORDERS as follows:
1. Within 30 days of the date of this Order, HGD must return the funds
referenced in Recommendation 4,1 which total $476,143.26, together with
the Common Benefit Fee accounting adjustment of $74,880.00 to the
settlement 	program. 	HGD 	is 	directed 	to 	contact 	the 	Settlement
Administrator for instructions on how to transmit the required funds to the
1 This represents Registration Payments to Voided DPP Claimants ($427,434.00); International
Wire Transfer Fees for Such Payments ($17,300.26); Lien Payments to TRICARE ($2,107); and
Attorneys’ Fees Paid to HGD on Voided DPP Claimants ($30,030)—less the Attorneys’ Fees Due
to HGD on Two Exempt Claimants (-$728). Pursuant to Recommendation 4, BrownGreer has
provided these amounts.
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Combat Arms Earplugs Qualified Settlement Fund and the Combat Arms
Earplugs Common Benefit Qualified Settlement Fund, respectively.
2. Within 30 days of the date of this Order, HGD must also reimburse the
Combat Arms Earplugs Qualified Settlement Fund for the investigative
costs expended by the settlement program in connection with this matter,
which total $244,927.19:
Name 	Amount
Brown Greer 	$106,538.00
Coastal Pacific Investigations 	$1,250.00
Garretson, LLC 	$9,266.49
Hartford Reporting & Technology, LLC 	$1,332.70
Herndon Resolutions 	$126,540.00
Total 	$244,927.19
3. Within 30 days of the date of this Order, Attorney Taylor Bartlett must pay
the sum of $20,000 into the Registry of the Court.
4. Within 30 days of the date of this Order, Attorney William Bross must pay
the sum of $10,000 into the Registry of the Court.
SO ORDERED, on this 20th day of February, 2026.
M. Casey Rodgers
M. CASEY RODGERS
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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