Szymanski v. Johns-Manville, Pleadings (1946)

Court papers from Benjamin Szymanski v. Johns-Manville Corporation, a 1946 suit by a worker at J-M's Manville, New Jersey plant, filed in the Somerset County Court of Common Pleas and removed to the U.S. District Court for New Jersey (Civil Action No. 8177). The complaint said he had worked for J-M "in the manufacture of articles in which asbestos and other substances were used" for about 16 years before May 1944, breathed asbestos and other dusts, and was "suffering from asbestosis." It charged J-M with poor ventilation, no proper respirators, and "not advising or warning plaintiff of the dangers of his work." The papers include J-M's petition and bond for removal (with Standard Accident Insurance Company as surety), its answer and supplemental answer pleading assumption of risk, contributory negligence and the two-year statute of limitations, the plaintiff's sworn answers to interrogatories, and a stipulation discontinuing the case without costs.

What it shows

In his answers to interrogatories (July 1946), Szymanski said J-M had X-rayed him "from on or about 1939 or 1940 and thereafter," and that he "was never informed that it was dangerous and detrimental to one's health" to do the work. He said J-M's medical examinations "failed to apprise or disclose to plaintiff" that he had contracted a disease from his work. J-M answered that any disease came from risks he had assumed and from his own or fellow workers' negligence. The suit ended in a stipulation of discontinuance; the papers do not say whether there was a settlement.

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 Syzmanski v. J-M Corp. Complaint was filed on 4/9/46 in the Court of Common Pleas of Somerset County, New Jersey. Case was removed to the U.S.D.C., New Jersey. Syzmanski was a textile worker at J-M's Manville plant for approximately 18 years. Standard Accident Insurance was the surety on the removal bond.

About this copy

This is document 736 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-003175 to CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-003214.