Benjamin Perone v. Johns-Manville, Court Papers (1929)

Court papers (65 pages) in Benjamin Perone's suit against Johns-Manville Corporation, begun in the New Jersey Supreme Court in July 1929 and removed to federal court, with New York Indemnity Company as surety on the removal bond. The complaint said asbestos "fibers and particles" from J-M's Manville plant had permeated his lungs and that he "became a victim of tuberculosis," and asked $100,000. J-M said he worked there only from December 1926 to November 1928. In February 1930 J-M moved to dismiss, filing a statement taken from Perone at his home on December 16, 1929, in which he said a lawyer had approached him in the hospital and that he did not want to sue; after hearing testimony, the court found in April 1930 that his lawyer had been properly retained and let the case go on.

What it shows

The home interview was arranged by Emil Ramer and attended by Archibald Hughes, general manager of the Manville plant, and a plant stenographer, with Perone's daughter interpreting from Italian. J-M used the same approach in the Lasin case, where it ended the suit. Here the court rejected it, and the plaintiff's lawyer noticed the case for trial in November 1930. In the statement Perone said he had worked for J-M for 13 years and told the lawyer "I am sick from dust."

In Johns-Manville's index

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

Various pleadings filed in Benjamin Perone v. J-M Corp. Complaint was filed on 7/8/29 in the Supreme Court of Somerset County, New Jersey. Case was removed to the U.S.D.C., New Jersey. Perone was a textile worker at J-M's Manville plant for approximately 2 years. New York Indemnity was the surety on the removal bond.

Related documents

• Lasin v. Johns-Manville, Court Papers (1929)

About this copy

This is document 748 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-003725 to CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-003789.