Johns-Manville Board of Directors Minutes on Asbestosis Suits and Asbestos-Health Reports (1933–1970)

Excerpts from five Johns-Manville board meetings, certified on September 5, 1978, by Robert A. Boardman, assistant secretary. In April 1933 the board authorized the president to settle eleven asbestosis suits brought by former employees in federal court in New Jersey, and in June 1933 the president reported a settlement of $35,000. The 1968, 1969 and 1970 minutes record reports to the board on "Asbestos and Health" and the "asbestos/health situation."

What it shows

The April 1933 minutes record that J-M's lawyers recommended settling for about $30,000 "provided written assurance were obtained from the attorney for the various plaintiffs that he would not directly or indirectly participate in the bringing of new actions against the Corporation." In April 1970 the chairman told the board that the dust standard had been cut in 1968 and would likely fall further, that caution labels on fiber shipped overseas had "aroused customer opposition," and that any of the asbestos-health suits "might trigger publicity about asbestos/health related hazards." He also pointed to workmen's compensation claims, most of them from "extensive mass filings at the Manville Plant."

In Johns-Manville's index

Johns-Manville's legal department indexed the Motley 1,000 in 1984. Its index describes this document as follows:

J-M Board of Directors Meeting Minutes, 4/24/33, 6/26/33, 1/17/68, 1/15/69, 4/15/70 re status of asbestos-health litigation.

About this copy

This is document 14 of the Motley 1,000, from the set the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust's records facility certified as true copies, pages CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-000444 to CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-000450.