W. E. Shoemaker of American Mutual to W. V. Ballentine on Keeping Asbestos Textile Institute Notes Confidential (1956)

A one-page memo of March 14, 1956, from William E. Shoemaker, an Atlantic Division engineer of the American Mutual Liability Insurance Company, to W. V. Ballentine, its Philadelphia district engineering manager, under the heading of its insured Keasbey & Mattison Co. of Ambler, Pennsylvania. Shoemaker sent his notes (not attached here) on a meeting of the Asbestos Textile Institute's Air Hygiene Committee. Because "complete enough information is not yet available on the asbestosis-cancer relationship for conclusions to be reached, it probably will be best to treat the contents of the attached as confidential within our company."

What it shows

Shoemaker added that "in protecting our interest there would certainly seem to be nothing wrong with our referring to it at any time in contacts with insured's executives," naming three Keasbey & Mattison men. Copies went to Norman Kley, general manager, and John B. Skinner of the home office engineering department. The memo shows the insurer of an asbestos textile maker following the industry's private talks about asbestosis and cancer in 1956, and keeping them inside the company.

In Johns-Manville's index

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

William E. Shoemaker (Div. Eng., American Mutual) memo to W.V. Ballentine (Phila. Dist. Eng. Mgr., American Mutual), 3/14/56, enclosing Shoemaker's notes regarding meeting of the ATI Air Hygiene Committee. Shoemaker states that "in view of the fact that complete enough information is not yet available on the asbestosis-cancer relationship for conclusions to be reached, it probably will be best to treat the contents of the attached as confidential within our company." Shoemaker further states that, "however, in protecting our interest there would certainly seem to be nothing wrong with our referring to it at any time in contacts with insured's executives"

About this copy

This is document 874 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-004581 to CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-004581.