California Industrial Accident Commission Award in Riley v. Johns-Manville (1961)

A seven-page order of the Industrial Accident Commission of the State of California, filed August 3, 1961, in Case No. 57-LA 182-835, Grace Riley v. Johns-Manville, Incorporated, and dozens of other insulation companies and insurers. Referee George A. Martinelli found that James Whitcomb Riley, an insulator for various California employers from January 1920 to May 19, 1957, had been exposed every day to "deleterious dusts which caused a pneumoconiosis with superimposed tuberculosis," leaving him totally disabled on May 19, 1957, and that his death on January 24, 1961, resulted from that injury. His widow was awarded the statutory death benefit; with disability pay and medical costs, the claim totaled $25,720.07, divided among the employers and insurers.

What it shows

Johns-Manville is named first among the defendants, who also included Armstrong Cork Company, Philip Carey Manufacturing, Owens-Corning Fiberglas, Fibreboard Paper Products and many insulation contractors, and J-M was among the parties served. An earlier award in Riley's favor had issued on November 27, 1959. The order for contribution lists amounts owed by insurers and by Plant Rubber and Asbestos Works but does not say which insurer covered which employer.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

J-M served in James Whitcomb Riley asbestosis workers' compensation proceeding on 8/3/61. Contract unit employee of J-M and Armstrong Cork (insulation workers).

Editor's note: J-M's description calls Riley a contract unit employee of J-M and Armstrong Cork. The order describes him as an insulator for various California employers from 1920 to 1957, with J-M and Armstrong Cork among dozens of employers and insurers named.