Thomas M. Nosewicz to Rodger L. Wilson on Davis v. Johns-Manville (1979)

A two-page letter of March 22, 1979, from Thomas M. Nosewicz, a lawyer defending Johns-Manville in Ernest Davis v. J-M, a Louisiana case over the Marrero plant, to Rodger L. Wilson at J-M's Denver headquarters. Davis had worked for J-M from 1950 to 1970. Nosewicz sends case law on the liability of executive officers and advises on preparing a J-M employee, Mr. Cuje, for deposition. In earlier depositions, he writes, the plaintiff's attorney had concentrated on respirators, warnings and "what was company policy as to informing employees of the medical condition."

What it shows

Nosewicz reminds Wilson what had already come out in the case: "it has been established that J-M had the policy of not allowing the doctor to speak to the individual party in 1965 about his condition but that a report was sent to J-M and that the condition would be discussed with the employee, at J-M's discretion." Only after 1965, he writes, was the doctor allowed to discuss X-ray findings directly with the worker. He expected the plaintiff to argue "that J-M hid information from its employees." Compare Wilbur Ruff's 1972 testimony on not telling employees of their illnesses.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

In a letter to Rodger L. Wilson, 3/22/79, regarding Ernest Davis v. J-M. Thomas M. Nosewicz outlines the company policy on informing employees of their medical condition. Stating "it has been established that J-M had the policy of not allowing the doctor to speak to the individual party in 1965 about his condition but that a report was sent to J-M" to be discussed with the employee at J-M's discretion.