Mass Tort Update- |
- Asbestos Update
- |
- Philadelphia, PA 215-567-3500
- |
- Red Bank, NJ 732-747-9003
Mass Tort Update Asbestos Update
Part 14: Asbestos Companies Use Bankruptcy Strategy
The Asbestos Story: America's Greatest Industrial Tragedy
A Tale of Deceit, Design & Temerity
By Christopher M. Placitella
Cohen, Placitella & Roth, P.C.
In 1981, Johns Manville is the first to implement a new strategy for avoiding claims by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Johns Manville bankruptcy plan establishes a Trust to pay for claims filed by Asbestos-exposed people who develop disease. The Trust is segregated from the rest of the company. The company goes on doing business as usual while being shielded from all future Asbestos liabilities.
Unfortunately, as time goes on, it becomes clear that the amount of money needed to pay claims estimated in the bankruptcy process is inadequate, and that the workers will not be as fully compensated as they thought they would be.
As part of the bankruptcy process, the Trustee for the now Johns Manville Trust turns over to the plaintiffs' attorneys all of the documents previously in Manville's possession for their examination. Many of these documents have never been produced and their very existence has been denied, including the records of the lawsuit filed by Mr. LeGrande, more than 20 years earlier.
The attorney in charge of the Manville Trust, David Austern, personally reviews some of more important documents brought to his attention and is shocked by what he learns has been covered up for decades. Mr. Austern memorializes his conclusions in a memo where he states:
The documents noted above, however, show corporate knowledge of the dangers associated with exposure to Asbestos dating back to 1934. In addition, the plaintiffs' bar will probably take the position - not unreasonably - that the documents are evidence of corporate conspiracy to prevent Asbestos workers from learning that their exposure to Asbestos could kill them. (One employee of Manville who co-authored a 30 year old document, which is among the group of documents described above, was told by Manville's Chief of Litigation, to hire his own lawyer after the document came to light because it was the opinion of the Chief of Litigation that the employee could be indicted for manslaughter .)
While it is not my intention to be an alarmist, I believe the documents evidence corporate irresponsibility of a magnitude which is understated in Outrageous Misconduct. The conduct and tone of the documents demonstrate that Manville officers, directors and employees, including some present employees - held secret information that had it been revealed would have prevented the deaths of thousands of people.
| Enter any relevant background information or case specifics so that we can best understand your situation: | ||
|
To Prevent Automated Submissions, Enter the 4 Digit Number Shown Below
(OR YOU MAY CALL US DIRECTLY AT 888-375-7600) |
||
 4701
|
||