Armstrong Cork and Travelers Insurance File on E. O. McCarrell's Asbestosis Compensation Claim (1957)

A 51-page file of letters and records from 1957 to 1960 on the California workers' compensation claim of E. O. McCarrell, an insulation worker for Armstrong Cork Company who fell ill with a lung condition blamed on handling asbestos materials. The letters pass among Armstrong Cork's insurance department, its brokers Alexander & Alexander, Travelers Insurance Company and Armstrong Contracting and Supply Corporation. In February 1957 Travelers said it had set up an estimate of $6,600 and would survey an insulating job near Los Angeles to find ways to "prevent or minimize this exposure." The claim was disposed of in 1960 for about $13,650 in compensation, medical costs and expenses.

What it shows

On March 1, 1957, R. C. Schiedt, Jr., of Armstrong's insurance department wrote: "These asbestosis claims are on the increase, and we are wondering if the manufacturers of this high temperature insulation which we use could be of some assistance in the defense of these claims." A handwritten note in the file lists Kaylo, Unibestos and Keasbey & Mattison. The file shows a contractor and its insurers in the late 1950s treating asbestosis among insulators as a growing class of claims.

In Johns-Manville's index

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

Documents dating from 1956 to 1960 regarding the workers' compensation claim of E.O. McCarrell. McCarrell was an insulation worker employed by Armstrong Cork Company in Los Angeles for the years 1944 through 1956, although during this time period he also worked for other employers. McCarrell filed a worker's compensation claim for lung disease caused by his employment with Armstrong Cork. The documents are primarily correspondence among Alexander & Alexander (insurance adjustors for Armstrong Cork), Armstrong Cork's insurance department, Travelers Insurance Company, and Standard Accident Insurance Company. The case was ultimately settled for around $13,000. The following is a description of some of the significant documents in the file. Employer's Report of Industrial Injury filed by Armstrong Cork on 11/30/56. T.F. Bryant (Travelers) letter to Alexander & Alexander, 2/19/57, indicating that Travelers' claim department has set up an estimate of $6,600 on this claim under Armstrong Cork's policy RUB-4991518 (policy period 1/1/56 - 1/1/57). Travelers' engineering department is planning to make a survey of an insulating job currently in operation in the vicinity of Los Angeles. "This way it is felt that we will then be able to develop recommendations or provide you with sufficient information so that recommendations might be developed which will prevent or minimize this exposure." Alexander & Alexander letter to Armstrong Cork, 2/25/57, requesting Armstrong to cooperate with Travelers in their inspection of insulating operations. Armstrong Cork letter to Alexander & Alexander, 3/1/57, notifying Alexander & Alexander of three Armstrong Cork insulating operations in the Los Angeles area which Travelers can inspect. Armstrong also states that "these asbestosis claims are on the increase, and we are wondering if the manufacturers of this high temperature insulation which we use could be of some assistance in the defense of these claims." Alexander & Alexander letter to Armstrong Cork, 6/26/58, reporting on the status of McCarrell's case according to Travelers. Travelers indicates that the current reserves that it has set up for the case are approximately $20,000. According to Travelers, McCarrell is disabled, will be so indefinitely, and will need constant medical treatment. Travelers is trying to join other defendant employers in the case. Travelers letter to Armstrong Cork, 1/20/59, requesting the names and periods of coverage of Armstrong Cork's workers' compensation carriers for the period 1/1/44 to 1/1/52. Armstrong Cork letter to Travelers, 1/27/59, stating that Standard Accident Insurance Company was Armstrong Cork's carrier prior to 1952. Armstrong Cork letter to Armstrong Contracting and Supply Corporation, 8/18/59. Armstrong Cork states that "in the second retrospective rating of our 1956 policy, Travelers established a $20,000 reserve on the claim, which resulted in Armstrong depositing about $23,354 with Travelers. Since Travelers' Armstrong coverage only included the years 1952 to 1956, inclusive, prior insurance companies should be involved when apportionment proceedings are initiated by Travelers if it was the last insurance carrier involved." Armstrong Cork requests that the addressee pass this information along to Travelers. Travelers Summary of Disposition of McCarrell case, 11/2/60. Indicates that the disposition was for approximately $13,000.

About this copy

This is document 834 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-004431 to CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-004481. The Employer's Report of Industrial Injury (CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-004441) is left out of the copy here because it shows a Social Security number.