J-M Insulation Contracting Supply Co. Notice to Aetna of Raymond J. Collins's Disability Claim (1961)

A cover letter of April 5, 1961, from the insurance manager of Johns-Manville Insulation Contracting Supply Co., Inc. (formerly Asbestos Construction Company, Inc.) in New York to the claim department of the Aetna Insurance Company, with the Employer's Notice of Disability Claim for a worker, Raymond J. Collins, age 60. The form gives the cause of his disability as "Chronic Bronchitis - Cough - Shortness of Breath," beginning in March 1961, and asks Aetna to process the claim under the company's New York disability policy.

What it shows

The claim was filed as an ordinary non-occupational disability claim: the form records no workmen's compensation claim and names no work-related cause. Collins worked for J-M's insulation contracting subsidiary, which installed asbestos insulation, and the form gives his date of employment as January 1941. The breathing complaints it lists are the kind J-M's own medical program watched for in dust-exposed workers.

About this copy

Only the cover letter is published here. The Employer's Notice of Disability Claim (page 2) is left out because it shows Raymond J. Collins's Social Security number.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

Employer's Notice of Disability Claim sent by Frank Deeg to Aetna in 4/5/61. Claimant was Raymond J. Collins. Disability: Chronic bronchitis, cough, shortness of breath. Employer: J-M Insulation Contracting Supply Co., Inc., formerly Asbestos Construction Company, Inc.

Related documents

• Complaint in Wenham v. Johns-Manville Products Corporation (1961)
• California Industrial Accident Commission Award in Riley v. Johns-Manville (1961)