Sunny. High 97F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph..

Clear skies. Low 73F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph.

Longview lawyers Doug Monsour and Katy Krottinger won a $2.2 million verdict on April 29 for a former U.S. Army soldier who suffered hearing loss and tinnitus as a result of a defective earplug made by 3M.

Monsour, who was lead attorney in the case, reported that the Combat Arms version 2 was sold to the U.S. military and commercially from 2000 until 2015 when the company stopped selling the product after a secret internal report was disclosed in separate litigation. Known as the Flange Report, it established that the CAEv2 earplug did not protect hearing at the advertised levels and that the plug had an unknown loosening problem.

The case, Vaughn v. 3M, began on April 18 in federal court in Gainesville, Florida, before Judge Steven D. Grimberg of the Northern District of Georgia.

The jury awarded U.S. Army Spc. Jonathon Vaughn $2.2 million in compensatory damages for his hearing loss and tinnitus.

3M was defended by Kirkland & Ellis of Chicago.

Monsour was appointed by U.S. District Judge Margaret Catharine Rodgers as a member of the executive committee of the 3M CAEv2 litigation and as chair of the Science and Expert Committee.

In December, the firm also won a $22.5 million verdict in a lawsuit involving the same product.

Jo Lee Ferguson wishes she kept her maiden name - Hammer - because it was perfect for a reporter. She’s a local girl who loves writing about her hometown. She and LNJ Managing Editor Randy Ferguson have two children and a crazy husky.

Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.

View detailed reports of major stock indexes and look up specific symbols.