Johns Manville, a company with roots stretching back over 160 years, stands as a prominent name in the building materials industry. However, this long history is interwoven with a significant and somber chapter: the widespread use of asbestos in its products. From its inception in 1858 until its bankruptcy filing in 1982, Johns Manville reigned as the world’s largest asbestos product manufacturer. This legacy has had devastating consequences, exposing millions to the hazards of asbestos and leaving a trail of asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma.
The repercussions of Johns Manville’s asbestos history continue to resonate today. The company’s extensive production of fire-resistant roofing, insulation, and various other asbestos products led to widespread asbestos exposure among workers. This exposure has resulted in countless diagnoses of mesothelioma and other debilitating asbestos-related illnesses. The sheer volume of legal battles and liability claims ultimately forced Johns Manville to file for bankruptcy and establish the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust. This trust was created to provide financial compensation to individuals harmed by asbestos exposure linked to the company’s operations.
Even now, the legacy of Johns Manville’s asbestos use casts a shadow. Concerns persist regarding ongoing asbestos exposure and environmental contamination stemming from past mining and manufacturing activities. A 2022 report by the Environmental Law & Policy Center highlighted the potential environmental dangers posed by climate change-related flooding at the Johns Manville superfund site. Such flooding could potentially spread asbestos contamination to neighboring communities, triggering widespread health crises.
John Mansville cement containing asbestos
Dark Secrets: Johns Manville’s Policy of Silence on Asbestos Risks
Disturbingly, evidence reveals that Johns Manville was aware of the grave health risks associated with asbestos exposure as early as the 1930s, yet deliberately chose to conceal this information from its workers. In 1933, Dr. Anthony Lanza, medical director at Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (insurer for Johns Manville and other asbestos firms), alerted Johns Manville to these dangers. Shockingly, he advised against implementing warning signs in plants to inform workers.
This pattern of concealment continued. In 1949, Dr. Kenneth Smith, then serving as Johns Manville’s medical director, discovered asbestosis in chest X-rays of seven asbestos workers. His advice to company president Lewis H. Brown and other executives was chilling: withhold these critical test results from the affected employees.
The company’s legal counsel’s statement, revealed in Dr. Smith’s sworn testimony in the DeRocco v. Forty-Eight Insulation case, encapsulates the callous disregard for worker safety: “We know that we are producing disease in the employees who manufacture these products, and there is no question in my mind that disease is being produced in non-JM employees who may use certain of these products.”
Despite mounting evidence of asbestos-related illnesses among its workforce dating back to the 1920s, Johns Manville, under President Brown, adopted a formal policy of silence. Even when confidential company reports revealed asbestosis in 20% of its workers, Metropolitan Life actively discouraged government inspections of Manville plants. Furthermore, Johns Manville prohibited Dr. Leroy Gardner, a researcher at New York’s Saranac Laboratories, from sharing his asbestos study findings. Dr. Gardner vehemently opposed these cover-ups until his death in 1946.
The Birth of the Johns Manville Asbestos Trust Fund
Johns Manville’s extensive history of asbestos litigation directly led to the establishment of the Johns Manville trust fund, designed to address future asbestos claims. The Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust gained official approval in 1988, launching with an initial balance of $2.5 billion.
The landmark case of Clarence Borel v. Fibreboard Paper Products Company in 1973 marked the first instance where Johns Manville faced legal accountability for exposing workers to asbestos. Borel’s successful lawsuit opened the floodgates, triggering a wave of similar lawsuits from injured workers against Johns Manville.
$600,132,570
The total assets held by the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust at the end of 2023, as reported on February 28, 2024.
Faced with overwhelming legal pressure, Johns Manville declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1982. Emerging from bankruptcy in 1988, the company formally established the trust. Initially anticipating around 100,000 claimants, the trust was quickly overwhelmed by hundreds of thousands of claims. This surge in claims rapidly depleted the trust’s funds, compelling Johns Manville to inject an additional $520 million and restructure the claim processing system.
Johns Manville Trust: Navigating Claim Payments
In its early phase, the Johns Manville trust operated on a first-come, first-served basis, fully paying each claim. However, the rapid depletion of funds forced trustees to revise the payout structure, implementing a percentage-based system to ensure equitable distribution.
This adjustment ensures that all eligible claimants receive a portion of the compensation. The trust regularly adjusts its payment percentage, currently set at 5.1% of the claim’s original assessed value. As of the end of 2023, the trust fund maintained assets exceeding $600 million. An experienced asbestos attorney can provide crucial assistance to claimants seeking compensation from the Johns Manville trust fund.
Understanding Claim Payouts:
- Maximum payouts range from $600 to $350,000, depending on the asbestos-related disease.
- “Extraordinary claims,” typically involving exceptionally high medical expenses, may exceed these maximums.
- Not all claims qualify for the maximum payout amounts; payouts are based on disease severity and other factors.
To qualify for compensation, claimants must demonstrate a diagnosis of an asbestos-related disease and establish that Johns Manville was responsible for the asbestos exposure that caused their illness. Heirs of deceased individuals may also file claims. Comprehensive documentation is required as evidence. Once eligibility is confirmed, the trust extends a payout offer based on the claimant’s specific disease and its severity.
Claimants have the right to dispute the offered amount or request an individual claim evaluation if their illness falls outside the trust’s standard eight accepted conditions. In such cases, the trust evaluates the claim based on the disease’s nature, relevant tort laws, and comparable claim values within the claimant’s jurisdiction.
While most claims are processed within a few months, individually reviewed claims may take longer. Claimants facing terminal illness or severe financial hardship may be eligible for priority processing.
Occupations at Risk: Johns Manville Asbestos Exposure
Numerous occupations, particularly miners and factory workers employed by Johns Manville, faced significant asbestos exposure. Workers often labored in environments thick with asbestos dust.
Furthermore, workers inadvertently carried asbestos dust on their clothing and gear, extending exposure risks to their families and the broader public through secondary asbestos exposure. The export of raw asbestos across geographical boundaries further amplified the potential for widespread exposure.
Jobs with High Asbestos Exposure Risk at Johns Manville:
- Asbestos abatement workers
- Bakers
- Boiler workers
- Brick masons
- Carpenters
- Construction workers
- Drywall installers and tapers
- Electricians
- Factory workers
- Firefighters
- Furnace workers
- HVAC installers and repairers
- Industrial plant workers
- Insulation installers
- Military veterans
- Millwrights
- Miners
- Painters
- Pipefitters
- Roofers
- Shipyard workers
- Steel foundry workers
- Textile workers
- U.S. Navy veterans
Despite its deeply troubling past of concealing asbestos dangers, Johns Manville has strived to rehabilitate its public image and remains operational today. Currently owned by Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the company now manufactures asbestos-free construction materials, utilizing alternatives like fiberglass and polyurethane. Notably, it has received recognition for its formaldehyde-free insulation products.
Attorneys working together
Johns Manville’s Asbestos-Laden Product Line
Johns Manville produced a wide array of asbestos-containing products primarily for the construction industry. These included insulation, wallboard, and floor tiles, placing countless employees at risk of developing asbestos-related diseases. The company marketed these products under numerous brand names.
A Partial List of Johns Manville’s Asbestos Brands and Products:
- 352 Insulating Cement
- 7M-13 Raw Asbestos Fibers
- Asbestoguard Adhesives
- Asbestotle Flashing
- Colorbestos Siding Sheets
- Corrugated Asbestos Transite Sheets
- Fibrocel Insulation
- Flexstone Asbestos Roofs
- Glasal Flexboard
- Insulkote Weatherproofing
- J-M Asbestos Flexboard
- J-M Asbestos Movable Walls
- J-M Asbestos Wall Board
- J-M Aviation Products
- J-M Building Papers and Felts
- J-M Built Up Roofs
- J-M Encased Insulating Board
- J-M Insulating Cement
- J-M Marinite Fireproof Sheet
- J-M Transite
- Johns Manville Caulking Putty
- Johns Manville Colorbestos Shingles
- Johns Manville Rigid Asbestos Shingles
- Permastone Asbestos-Cement Flexboard
- Salem Asbestos Roof Shingles
- Stonehenge Architectural Panels
- Terraflex Plastic Asbestos Floor Tile
- Thermobestos Block Insulation
- Thermobestos Cement
- Transitop Asbestos Panels
- Vitribestos Sheet
- Vulcabestos Insulation
Tragically, even the company’s founder, Henry Ward Johns, succumbed to “dust phthisis pneumonitis,” a condition strongly believed to be asbestosis. Individuals experiencing symptoms suggestive of asbestos-related disease should consult with an experienced asbestos lawyer to understand how to document their exposure history and pursue a trust fund claim.
Key Johns Manville Asbestos Lawsuits and Settlements
Johns Manville’s first asbestos-related lawsuit dates back to 1929, which the company settled for $30,000. In 2014, a New Jersey court awarded $90.5 million to 11 families of Johns Manville employees for the pain and suffering endured after losing loved ones to asbestos cancer.
The DeRocco v. Forty-Eight Insulations Inc. case included pivotal testimony from former Johns Manville medical director Dr. Smith. In his 1976 deposition, Dr. Smith testified that he and company executives were fully aware of asbestos hazards, understood their actions were causing employee illnesses, and were certain that users of their products were also at risk.
Dr. Smith’s extensive 24-year tenure at Johns Manville provided him with unparalleled insight into asbestos risks. However, both he and the company actively suppressed this crucial information, leaving workers and consumers uninformed and vulnerable.
Other significant legal cases, such as Borel v. Fibreboard Paper Products, Cavett v. Johns Manville Sales Corporation, and Consolidated Steel Shipyard lawsuits, established legal precedents that benefited plaintiffs in asbestos litigation. These and other substantial legal defeats directly contributed to the creation of the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust.
Borel v. Fibreboard Paper Products: A Turning Point
In 1973, Clarence Borel initiated a lawsuit against 11 asbestos insulation manufacturers, including Johns Manville, after his asbestosis and mesothelioma diagnoses rendered him unable to work. He alleged negligence, arguing that manufacturers failed to warn workers about asbestos dangers, leading to his illnesses.
The jury ruled in favor of Borel, finding all defendants liable for a total of $79,436. After settlements from four defendants totaling $20,902, the remaining seven defendants were held responsible for $58,534 in damages. This case marked a significant victory for asbestos plaintiffs.
Cavett v. Johns Manville Sales Corporation: Punitive Damages Awarded
James Cavett, a boilermaker, endured frequent asbestos exposure from pipe insulation, which he identified as originating from Johns Manville, during his 40-year career. He testified that asbestos dust accumulation was so severe that workers appeared to be “dumped a barrel of flour on you.”
Expert testimony confirmed that asbestos exposure was the cause of Cavett’s lung cancer and asbestosis. Although Cavett passed away before a verdict was reached, his wife was ultimately awarded $800,000 in compensatory damages and a significant $1.5 million in punitive damages.
Consolidated Steel Shipyard Lawsuits: Wartime Exposure
Employees of Consolidated Steel Shipyard during World War II filed asbestos lawsuits against Johns Manville, asserting that the company’s insulation supplied to the shipyard exposed them to asbestos.
Thousands of shipyard workers exposed to asbestos from this insulation during 1944 and 1945 subsequently developed asbestosis, mesothelioma, and other asbestos-related diseases. While Johns Manville claimed ignorance of asbestos health risks at the time, internal company documents refuted these claims.
Consolidated Steel Shipyard employees, or their surviving family members, who believe their illnesses resulted from Johns Manville asbestos exposure should consult with an asbestos attorney to determine their eligibility to file a trust fund claim. Attorneys possess access to databases containing crucial information to support claimants in proving their cases.
