C. W. Hite to Vandiver Brown on Lorenzo Valentino's Claim (1941)

Two papers. On December 27, 1941, Myron L. Levy, a lawyer in Somerville, New Jersey, wrote to Johns-Manville that his client Lorenzo Valentino alleged injuries in his employment that left him "totally disabled and unable to work," and asked J-M to contact him within five days "for the purpose of amicably adjusting this matter." Two days later C. W. Hite, industrial relations manager at the Manville factory, sent Vandiver Brown, J-M's attorney, Valentino's personnel, examination and X-ray records, noting that he had mixed cements for 16 years and that J-M's own examination and X-rays in April 1932 "revealed that he had Silicosis."

What it shows

Hite reports the company doctor's opinion that the condition had "progressed steadily over the past 8 or 9 years." Valentino fell ill in March 1941, and three weeks before the memo his own physician diagnosed asbestosis; Hite notes that a health and accident insurance claim report in March had also indicated asbestosis, and that J-M had arranged for him to draw those benefits from Metropolitan Life. J-M had a record of lung disease in this worker from 1932, and he had stayed in the Cement Department; the memo does not say whether he was told of the 1932 finding.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

Johns-Manville's own chronology of what the company knew describes this document as follows:

Myron L. Levy (attorney for Valentino) notifies J-M, 12/27/41, that his client alleges that, due to his employment at J-M, he became incapacitated to the extent that he is totally disabled. Levy requests J-M to contact him in 5 days to "amicably adjust this matter." C.W. Hite in a memorandum to Vandiver Brown, 12/29/41, sums up Valentino's medical and benefits history. Valentino has worked 16 years in the Cement Department in "C" Building mixing cements. His original exam and x-rays in April 1932 showed silicosis. The J-M doctor's opinion is that this has progressed steadily over the past 8 or 9 years. Three weeks ago, Valentino's doctor diagnosed the case as asbestosis, and Valentino stopped work. As soon as Hite received notice of Valentino's illness, he made arrangements for Valentino to collect H&A Insurance benefits from Metropolitan. Valentino carries $1,000 Group Life Insurance with J-M.