Hollingsworth & Vose

Hollingsworth & Vose (H&V) is a Massachusetts-based paper and specialty fiber manufacturer founded in 1843. From the 1950s into the 1980s, the company supplied asbestos-containing filter material, most notably the crocidolite (blue asbestos) filter used in Kent Micronite cigarettes between 1952 and 1956. H&V has been named as a defendant in numerous asbestos personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits, particularly those involving Kent cigarette smokers who developed mesothelioma.

Origin

The company was founded in East Walpole, Massachusetts, in 1843 by Mark Hollingsworth and his partners, later joined by the Vose family, to produce specialty papers. Its role in asbestos litigation traces specifically to its mid-20th-century contract with Lorillard Tobacco Company to manufacture the crocidolite-containing "Micronite" filter, which was marketed as a health improvement for smokers.

Significance in Asbestos Context

For patients with mesothelioma or other asbestos-related diseases, H&V matters most when Kent cigarettes (1952–1956 era) appear in the exposure history. Crocidolite is the most carcinogenic form of asbestos for mesothelioma, and the original Micronite filter released fibers directly into smokers' airways, meaning even people without occupational asbestos exposure may have a viable claim if they smoked early Kent cigarettes. H&V workers at the East Walpole and West Groton, Massachusetts plants who handled the filter material also have direct occupational exposure claims. Internal company documents produced in litigation have shown awareness of asbestos hazards during the period the filters were manufactured, which is central to proving the historical knowledge element of these cases.

Related Terms

Kent Micronite Filter, Lorillard Tobacco Company, Crocidolite, Consumer Product Exposure, Mesothelioma, State-of-the-Art Defense, Kent Micronite, Lorillard, Product Identification

Notes

• If you or a loved one smoked Kent cigarettes between 1952 and 1956, document the brand, approximate dates, and quantity in writing. Original Micronite filters are a recognized crocidolite exposure source.
• Preserve any old photographs, cigarette cartons, military commissary records, or family recollections that establish Kent use during the original Micronite years (1952–1956).
• If you or a family member worked at the H&V plants in East Walpole or West Groton, Massachusetts during the asbestos-handling era, request employment records from the company and Social Security earnings records (SSA Form 7050) to confirm dates of employment.
• Ask your attorney specifically about Kent/Micronite claims; they involve a different defendant set and exposure theory than typical occupational asbestos cases and require specialized historical and product-identification evidence.

Court cases

21 court decisions in our case-law library name Hollingsworth & Vose as a defendant, newest first.

• Prokocimer v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (In re New York City Asbestos Litigation, 2018)
• DeLisle v. Crane Co. (2018)
• Steiner v. Hollingsworth & Vose Company (2018)
• Crane Co. v. DeLisle (2016)
• Neumann v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec LLC (2016)
• Myers v. Crouse-Hinds Division OF Cooper Industries, Inc. (2016)
• Quirin v. Lorillard Tobacco Company (2015)
• Quirin v. Lorillard Tobacco Company (2014)
• Correnti v. Bertram D. Stone, Inc. (2014)
• Quirin v. Lorillard Tobacco Company (2014)
• Quirin v. Lorillard Tobacco Co. (2014)
• Quirin v. Lorillard Tobacco Company (2014)
• McGuire v. Lorillard Tobacco Company (2014)
• Couscouris v. Hatch Grinding Wheels, Inc. (2012)
• Barnes v. AO Smith Water Products Co. (2008)
• Hollingsworth v. Connor (2000)
• Ruckstuhl v. Owens Corning Fiberglas Corp. (1999)
• Ruckstuhl v. Owens Corning Fiberglas Corp. (1998)
• Braun v. Lorillard Inc. (1996)
• Lesnick v. Hollingsworth & Vose Co. (1994)
• Ierardi v. Lorillard, Inc. (1991)

In the Union Carbide documents

Hollingsworth & Vose is named in 1 Union Carbide document dated 1980 (1 mentioned), from asbestos lawsuits over Union Carbide's Calidria asbestos. All are published in our collection.

• Asbestos Information Association/North America List of Member Companies (1980) UC-4878 (mentioned)

Names in the documents

The spellings documents use for Hollingsworth & Vose, OCR misreadings included, so a search for any of them finds this page: Hollingsworth & Vose Co.

Where this comes from

This page brings together every document in our library that names Hollingsworth & Vose, across collections. Titles and affiliations are taken from the documents themselves, and units and subsidiaries are grouped under the company they belong to.