J. W. Szcygielski to H. M. Jackson on Quietly Settling Two Lung Cancer Compensation Cases (1968)

A one-page confidential memo of July 30, 1968, from J. W. Szcygielski to H. M. Jackson at Johns-Manville headquarters on two workers' compensation cases involving lung cancer, those of Michael Diagula and Eric Swanson. Swanson had worked in J-M's Transite pipe department from 1936 to 1946 and then as a clutch facing press operator, and "was never considered a dust case"; a Mayo Clinic report on him noted his 32-year history of asbestos exposure and that "the association of asbestos exposure and carcinoma of the lung" had been "statistically correlated." Szcygielski recommends that J-M "quietly resolve these two matters with a minimum of publicity, community relations problems or public record."

What it shows

The memo says that, "to minimize publicity," both cases should be settled "out of court" by compromise, and that C. L. Hite recommended Jackson "handle our proposals with Division Management by telephone to reduce the amount of written record in these two cases." By 1968 J-M was facing compensation claims for lung cancer from its own plant workers, including a man the company had not treated as exposed to dust, and its managers chose settlements that would keep the link between asbestos and lung cancer out of the public record.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

Memorandum to H.M. Jackson from J.W. Szcygielski, 7/30/68 recommends that Manville settle two specific workers' compensation cases which involve carcinoma of the lung. The reason for settlement is to insure a minimum of publicity and community relations problems, and to keep such information off the public record.