G. Earl Parker to J. B. Jobe on Labeling Exported Asbestos Products (1972)

A two-page privileged memo of January 13, 1972, from G. Earl Parker at J-M's Denver headquarters to J. B. Jobe, on whether asbestos insulation made in the United States and shipped abroad should carry caution labels. Parker knew of past decisions that export shipments would not be labeled, but did not think they "rise to the level of 'Company Policy,'" and wrote that "The Legal Department has consistently recommended such labeling." He noted "that had labels not been adopted on domestic products during 1964, the company's position in currently pending litigation would be all but indefensible."

What it shows

Parker counted fourteen common-law asbestosis suits and two mesothelioma suits against J-M companies, all alleging a failure to warn, and expected laws abroad to follow the American pattern. Labeling in the United States and Canada but not on exports, he wrote, "would seriously weaken our position in defending litigation which might arise abroad," and he asked Jobe to gather a group to decide whether detailed study was needed. The memo ties J-M's 1964 decision to label (Jobe's 1964 memo on labeling to lessen claims) to its defense in the lawsuits of the early 1970s. The sales side's answer is Poutiatine's memo of January 25.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

G. Earl Parker writes a memorandum to J.B. Jobe on 1/13/72, regarding labeling of asbestos and asbestos containing products for export sales. Parker states that the legal department has consistently recommended labeling of asbestos containing insulation materials manufactured in the United States and shipped to a foreign location.

Parker reasons that had labels not been adopted on domestic products during 1964, the company's position in currently pending litigation would be all but indefensible. His concern is that the development of laws on this subject in foreign countries will parallel the experience in the United States. Labeling in the U.S. and Canada coupled with the failure in export shipments would seriously weaken J-M's position in defending litigation which might arise abroad.