Manville Press Release on Asbestos Litigation Studies and a Special Committee (1982)

A two-page Manville Corporation press release from Denver dated August 4, 1982, with the contact line left blank. It announced that the company had reported to its board "receipt of studies from outside consultants" indicating that new asbestos health suits "may well continue unabated for a number of years," that J-M and its affiliates were defendants in more than 11,000 pending cases brought for more than 16,000 plaintiffs, and that the case load "could have a material adverse effect" on Manville's financial position and earnings. The board said it would declare no dividends on the common stock "until a legislative or other solution to the asbestos health litigation problem is found" and had appointed a special committee to study the cases, "the possible need for creation of materially large reserves" and the company's options.

What it shows

The release is dated the day the board heard the studies, and gives no figures from them. The Legal Department's presentation to the board the same day set out the Litigation Analysis Group's projection: 47,600 plaintiffs through 2001 and a cost of about $1.86 billion, or $1,258.8 million after insurance. The "materially large reserves" the special committee was to consider were the question that presentation raised, whether the liability could now be "reasonably estimated" and recorded. Three weeks later the committee recommended a Chapter 11 filing.