Warren W. Greene to Johns-Manville Sales Corporation on the Nix Compensation Settlement (1980)

A one-page letter of April 7, 1980, from Warren W. Greene of the California law firm Jones, Nelson, Sisk & Ford to Johns-Manville Sales Corporation at Lompoc, attention Mary B. Walker, about the workers' compensation case of Lawrence Nix, deceased, and his widow Lula Nix (case 79 SBA 26649). John Spatafore had asked Greene at the board in San Luis Obispo whether the compromise and release could be changed so that it would not settle any rights in a possible third-party suit, like the San Francisco cases being handled by Kazin's office. Greene wrote that his impression was that J-M's reaction "would be either this lady settles at the negotiated amount for everything or we will stonewall her, and she'll probably never leave to see a time" (apparently meaning "live to see a dime").

What it shows

The letter shows a lawyer handling the claim for J-M expecting the company to insist that a widow's compensation settlement also give up any separate lawsuit, and to "stonewall" her if she refused. A copy went to Johns-Manville Sales Corporation in Denver, and Greene said he would call Denver to discuss it.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

Letter to Mary B. Walker from Warren W. Greene of Jones, Nelson, Sisk & Ford, 4/7/80, regarding Lawrence Nix v. Johns-Manville. In commenting on John Spatafore's request regarding the possibility of altering the compromise and release so that it does not settle out any rights which he may have in a potential third-party action, Greene states "that it was his impression that Johns-Manville's reaction would be either this lady settles at the negotiated amount for everything or we will stonewall her and she'll probably never leave (sic) to see a time (sic)." Presumably, the phrase was intended to be "live to see a dime."