On August 10, 2026, a Harris County jury that had been deadlocked 9-3 came back after Judge Tanya Garrison sent an Allen charge and awarded $61.5 million against 3M in the fourth Watson Grinding explosion bellwether. The panel found Watson 70 percent responsible and 3M 30 percent.
On August 10, 2026, in the 11th District Courtroom in Harris County, a jury that had been telling the court it was deadlocked 9-3 came back after an Allen charge and hit 3M. The number was $61.5 million. Judge Tanya Garrison, filling in for Judge Kristen Brauchle Hawkins, was the one who sent the charge.
The panel had spent Thursday deliberating and, by 2 p.m. Friday, had sent three notes saying it was 9-3. Hawkins decided an Allen charge was too soon. She sent the jurors home for the weekend. Monday morning they asked why Watson Grinding was on the verdict form if it was not a defendant. At noon they sent another 9-3 note. That is when Garrison, sitting in, told counsel she had a "soft" pattern charge and a "harsh" one from the Fifth Circuit. The court sent the softer charge back to the jury room. By 3 p.m. the intercom buzzed twice. A verdict.
The panel of eight women and four men found, 10-2, that Watson Grinding and Manufacturing was 70 percent responsible and that 3M, hired to inspect Watson's gas detection system, was 30 percent responsible. Jurors awarded $61.5 million to 24 plaintiffs. Four more who lived about seven miles from the plant took zero. The Texas Lawbook reported the panel awarded nearly all of the about $62.3 million plaintiffs had asked.
Free weekly intelligence for executives responsible for litigation exposure: the named decision-makers, dollar exposure, operating consequence, and next development.
The blast was January 24, 2020. An employee flipped a light switch at about 4 a.m. at Watson's Gessner Road plant. A propylene leak had filled the building. Three people died. More than 450 homes and businesses were damaged. Watson filed Chapter 11 on February 6, 2020, and was later liquidated. What remains for a jury is the inspector. Plaintiffs' counsel told the panel 3M technicians should have red-tagged detectors that were not connected to the plant's industrial computer and should have called the Houston Fire Department. Zandra Foley of Thompson, Coe, Cousins & Irons told the same panel the explosion was "caused by Watson Grinding, 100 percent."
This was the fourth bellwether out of an MDL of about 2,600 plaintiffs. A prior Harris County jury had awarded $118 million. Another had awarded nearly $38 million. A third had cleared 3M. The Texas Lawbook recorded the hallway math after this one: 20 percent, then 49 percent, then a defense win, then 30 percent. Ryan Loya of Kwok Daniel, who represents about 1,000 additional plaintiffs, is the lawyer who walked that sequence. Two more bellwethers, 50 plaintiffs each, are set for October and January.
9-3 on Friday. An Allen charge on Monday. $61.5 million by 3 p.m.
3M said it disagrees with the verdict and will appeal. "We disagree with the verdict in this case and believe that it is unsupported by the evidence and the law," a company spokesperson said. Adam Lewis of Arnold & Itkin called the result "fair and just." Nothing about $61.5 million is collectible until a judgment is entered and the appeal 3M has already promised runs. What the charge did is get a hung panel to write a number. Garrison is the judge who sent it.
The Executive Briefing is five questions. It shows you exactly where the gaps are.
Take the Executive Briefing →Free weekly intelligence for executives responsible for litigation exposure: the named decision-makers, dollar exposure, operating consequence, and next development.