Consumer Goods Giant 3M Fined More than $6.5 Million for Wooing Chinese Government Officials with Overseas Trips

The consumer goods company 3M agreed to pay more than $6.5 million to resolve charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act after its China-based subsidiary took Chinese government officials on overseas trips in an attempt to convince them to purchase 3M products, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said.

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AG Skrmetti Files Lawsuit Against Massive Chemical Companies for Negative Health Effects on Tennesseans

Tennessee’s attorney general Thursday announced a lawsuit against several of the largest chemical manufacturers in the country for the health damage he says they caused to Tennesseeans.

Companies including 3M, DuPont, and Chemours create products containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS. One of those products, according to Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti (R), is called Aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF).

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3M Settles Water Contamination Lawsuits with $10.3 Billion Payout

Chemical manufacturing company 3M agreed to settle multiple lawsuits with a $10.3 billion payout over the U.S. water supply being allegedly contaminated with “forever chemicals” contained in firefighting foam and other products, the company announced in a press release on Thursday. 

Under the settlement, 3M will provide the payout over a 13-year period to both public water suppliers that have found traces of Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and other suppliers that “may detect PFAS at any level in the future.” The company did not admit liability in the settlement. 

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3M Set to Expand Manufacturing Operations in East Tennessee, Invest $470 Million

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD), and 3M Company announced this week the investment of approximately $470 million to expand manufacturing operations in East Tennessee. 3M’s expansion is expected to add around 600 new jobs by 2025.

Governor Lee said, “3M’s decision to expand in Tennessee is a testament to our state’s pro-business climate and skilled workforce. The creation of nearly 600 new jobs in Anderson County will positively impact this community for years to come, and we thank 3M for their investment in our state.”

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Tennessee Lawsuit Seeks to Hold 3M Liable for Defective Combat Earplugs That Allegedly Harmed Hearing of Two Marine Combat Veterans

Two Marine veterans are claiming the 3M company owes them for loss of hearing they have suffered due to defective earplugs manufactured by the 3M Company and sold to the U.S military for more than a decade. Last summer the U.S. Department of Justice and 3M reached a $9.1 million settlement over the defective dual ended combat earplugs. Now, 3M is facing civil suits across the country for selling the defective earplugs. Some predict that thousands of suits will soon be filed. One such lawsuit has already been filed in Nashville’s Federal Court by Goodlettsville attorney Tim Bowden on behalf of Christopher Wade Phillips and Eric Wayne Lewis. Both Phillips and Lewis served in the U.S. Marines on overseas combat deployments during which time they were issued and used the defective 3M combat earplugs. Both claim to have suffered substantial hearing loss as the result of their use of the defective 3M combat earplugs. Phillips joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 2001 at age 18. He was deployed to Iraq and Kuwait in 2003 and served until he was medically discharged in 2004 with a forty percent hearing loss. Lewis also joined the Marine Corps at the age of 18,…

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