A. F. Townsend to Sumner Simpson on Outside Plant Examinations and Asbestosis Lawsuits (1939)

A one-page letter of January 20, 1939, from A. F. Townsend, executive chairman of Raybestos-Manhattan at Passaic, New Jersey, to Sumner Simpson, the company's president. Townsend reported that Zimmerman (S. R. Zimmerman, the company's Lancaster lawyer) had suggested an examination of the factories by outside authorities, after which Passaic, through its Dr. Keating, could keep "a running series of inspections and dust counts in case of workmen's compensation or possible lawsuits." Dr. Keating had seen Dr. A. J. Lanza and Dr. W. J. McConnell of Metropolitan Life, and Lanza "seems to be rather skeptical in regard to asbestosis creating as much trouble as we think," but Townsend wrote that "the lawsuits we are having brought against us from various points are bound to cause us more or less trouble and expense."

What it shows

By early 1939 asbestosis claims and suits were a concern across Raybestos-Manhattan's plants. Townsend wrote that George R. Weber was "very much worried about the situation in Manheim," that E. H. Jeffords reported the case at North Charleston "pretty well cleaned up," and that Simpson was "threatened with some other cases in Bridgeport." The plan he raised was to keep dust and inspection records for use in compensation cases and lawsuits, "more as a matter of precaution than anything else." Simpson's answer is his letter of January 25.

In Johns-Manville's index

Johns-Manville's attorneys indexed the Sumner Simpson Papers. Their index describes this document as follows:

Suggests an examination of factories by outside sources with updates by inspections and dust counts. The results of these examinations could be used in case of workmen's compensation claims or possible lawsuits. Informs suggestion made to Dr. Lanza and Lanza expressed skepticism that asbestos causes as much trouble as commonly thought. Reports managers in other RM divisions are concerned about lawsuits.

Related documents

• Sumner Simpson to A. F. Townsend Replying That Dust Control Is Well in Hand (1939)

About this copy

This is document 03532 of the Sumner Simpson Papers, as numbered in the collection's index.