Posts Tagged ‘ Chubb ’

Asbestos Companies Covers Blown—Decades Too Late

May 26th, 2010. By janem

As early as the 1930s executives at companies where asbestos was mined and/or used have been covering up the dangers of asbestos disease to their employees. These execs didn’t suffer from asbestosis or die from mesothelioma; instead they wrote thousands upon thousands of death sentences by hiding or destroying asbestos warning memos from doctors, unions and even insurance companies.

Instead, they paid off many sick workers and made them promise never to tell their co-workers about their disease. Recently, some of these hidden documents have been found and you can read this one online. They are chilling, to say the least, and prove without a doubt that these despicable companies knew and concealed the hazards of asbestos for decades.

“…if you have enjoyed a good life while working with asbestos products, why not die from it.” – 1966 memo by  the Director of Purchasing for Bendix Corporation, now a part of Honeywell, to Canadian Johns Manville Co. in Asbestos, Quebec.

The Trinity of Evil: Bendix Corporation, Manville and W.R. Grace.

Manville filed for bankruptcy in 1982 after settling so many asbestos liability claims. This is a convoluted story, so please bear with me:  In 1986 a judge approved a settlement that created the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust to settle asbestos claims.

Manville’s liability insurers, of which Travelers was the primary, contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to the trust in exchange for immunity from future claims related to Manville’s liability insurance policies. This arrangement was subsequently in more than 40 other asbestos cases and Congress wrote it into law. It also meant that asbestos claimants and others who were a part of the 1986 agreement could not make future claims or challenge the bankruptcy.

In 2001, new plaintiffs sued Travelers of conspiring with Manville to hide the dangers of asbestos from the public. One of the plaintiffs was Chubb Indemnity Insurance Co, an asbestos industry liability insurer with its own asbestos claims.

In 2004 Travelers paid $500 million to the plaintiffs in exchange for an order from the bankruptcy court that the original 1986 agreement barred future lawsuits. Just two months ago, a ruling by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals reversed rulings by a district court and bankruptcy court related to Travelers’ involvement with Johns Manville Corp and Chubb can now sue Travelers Insurance Cos-because Chubb was not a part of that 1986 agreement, unlike countless asbestos victims.

Grace is doubly despicable. Not only did it know in 1960 when it took over the Libby mine that vermiculate could kill people-and continues to potentially harm about 30 million Americans who have the product in their homes-the company didn’t even file for bankruptcy honestly. In May 2002, the Justice Department charged that Grace “removed billions of dollars of assets against which parties who were injured or damaged by Grace’s asbestos-containing material had claims”.  Grace could get slapped with a $280 million fine and executives may face up to 70 years in prison.

One can only hope their cells are contaminated with asbestos fibers

Tags: Asbestos, asbestosis, Chubb, Manville, mesothelioma, WR Grace
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