Sumner Simpson to E. H. Jeffords on Helping Southern Asbestos Without Testifying (1936)

A one-page letter of December 11, 1936, from Sumner Simpson, president of Raybestos-Manhattan, to E. H. Jeffords, general manager of the company's General Asbestos & Rubber Division at North Charleston, South Carolina, enclosing copies of G. S. Fabel's request from Southern Asbestos Co. and Simpson's reply. "Please give them whatever information you can without agreeing to go to Charlotte as a witness for the Southern Asbestos Co. I do not believe that would be good policy."

What it shows

Simpson added: "From what I have heard, (of course not authentic in any way) the dust at the Charlotte plant is very bad, possibly the same as it was in our plant some years ago." The letter shows Raybestos-Manhattan's president, in private, comparing another company's dust conditions with past conditions in his own company's plant, while keeping his managers off the witness stand in that company's asbestosis cases. The enclosures are Fabel's letter of December 9 and Simpson's reply.

In Johns-Manville's index

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

Transmittal letter for correspondence between Farbel and Simpson. Instructs Jeffords to give assistance to Southern Asbestos short of agreeing to testify on their behalf. Informs of rumors that dust conditions at Charlotte plant are very bad, much like Raybestos plant some years ago (correspondence attached).

Related documents

• G. S. Fabel of Southern Asbestos to Sumner Simpson Asking to Interview Charleston Employees (1936)
• Sumner Simpson to G. S. Fabel of Southern Asbestos on Interviewing Charleston Employees (1936)

About this copy

This is document 03081-03084 of the Sumner Simpson Papers, as numbered in the collection's index.