Vandiver Brown to Lybrand, Ross Bros. & Montgomery on Pending Claims for the 1941 Audit (1941)

A one-page letter of December 16, 1941, from Vandiver Brown, Johns-Manville's general attorney, to G. R. Byrne of the accounting firm Lybrand, Ross Bros. & Montgomery for J-M's annual audit, with a list of 1941 contracts and a list of pending claims over $500, including workers' compensation claims. The claims list includes Cornelius Semon's suit for $37,500 for alleged injuries from rock wool dust at the Alexandria, Indiana, plant; J. G. Hartnell at Lompoc, "Diagnosed as silicosis and undulant fever at one time but subsequently diagnosed as a fungus infection"; and Floyd Etchison at Alexandria, a claim for lung injuries "Diagnosed by J-M doctors as probable tuberculosis." Brown's letter also reports two Justice Department antitrust investigations involving J-M.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

In regard to the annual audit, Vandiver Brown sends to G.R. Byrne (Lybrand, Ross Bros. & Montgomery), 12/16/41, a list of workers' compensation claims and other actions over $500 pending as of 12/15/41. The following claims are of interest: Clarence Rose (Lompoc) diagnosis not stated, Cornelius Semon (Alexandria) disease caused from rock wool dust, J.G. Hartnell (Lompoc) possible silicosis, and Floyd Etchison (Alexandria) probably TB.