R. R. Standel Jr. to Leroy G. Vandeveer on the Bradshaw Case and J-M's 1954 Dust Warning (1967)

A two-page letter of March 17, 1967, from R. R. Standel Jr. of J-M's legal department to Leroy G. Vandeveer, the Detroit lawyer defending J-M in Bradshaw v. Johns-Manville Sales Corporation, an insulator's claim, with a memo to file of the same day listing product literature mailed to him. Standel reported that J-M gave no pre-employment or periodic medical examinations to insulation workers such as Donald Bradshaw, and that Dr. K. W. Smith, "our former Medical Director," was in very poor health: "For our purposes he is incommunicado." He enclosed reports on asbestosis, including Smith's "Trends in the Health of the Asbestos Worker," which he called "of a somewhat less impartial nature."

What it shows

Reading the files of the earlier LeGrande case, Standel found a memo from Howard G. Wachenfeld to F. C. O'Connor of Travelers Insurance (Wachenfeld to O'Connor on the LeGrande defense) stating that in 1954 J-M had distributed a manual to buyers of its products with "a warning that applicators should avoid breathing any of the dust," apparently because J-M's medical staff had kept "on the look-out for dangerous consequences to applicators." Standel wrote that he was trying to trace the manual "but so far have had no success." By 1967, J-M's own lawyer could not find the company's earlier warning to product users (compare J-M's 1958 memos on a Marinite caution label).

In Johns-Manville's chronology

Johns-Manville's own chronology of what the company knew describes this document as follows:

Privileged letter from R. Standel to Vandeveer, 3/17/67, re Bradshaw v. J-M Sales, "in reading through the files in LeGrande I note that in the December 15, [1953] memorandum from Howard G. Walchenfeld to F.C. O'Connor (a photocopy of which I sent to you yesterday) the following is stated (at page 3 thereof): In 1954, a manual was distributed to the buyers of Johns-Manville's products advising them of the best methods for applying its products. Within this manual there was a warning that applicators should avoid breathing any of the dust. This warning was apparently the result of Johns-Manville's medical staff having kept on the look-out for dangerous consequences to applicators. Either Dr. Anthony Lanza or Mr. Van Brown (former house counsel) should be able to tell us what steps have been taken by Johns-Manville with regard to investigating the possibility of occupational diseases on applicators resulting from the use of Johns-Manville products. Dr. Smith said he would investigate as to exactly what was done along these lines.'"

Editor's note: J-M's description dates the Wachenfeld memorandum December 15, 1953. The year is blurred in Standel's letter, and the memorandum describes a manual of 1954, so it was written later; the LeGrande letter it appears to be is dated December 15, 1958 (Wachenfeld to O'Connor).

Related documents

• Detroit District Memo to R. A. Stapleton on the Bradshaw Summons, with "the Wave Is Breaking" Note (1967)
• Howard G. Wachenfeld to F. G. O'Connor of Travelers Insurance on the LeGrande Defense (1958)
• Johns-Manville Memos on a Caution Label for Marinite (1958)