Document DMDx5jMZQ3B5Q0dLOQVLM24p5

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS BEAUMOUNT DIVISION (CONSOLIDATED CASES) JAMES M. DARTEZ (S. CIVIL ACTION B-81-227 JWENS--ILLINOIS. INC., ET AL (ICHARD C. SMITH, SR. JS. CIVIL ACTION B-81-543 JWENS--ILLINOIS, INC., ET AL (ILLIAM B. HARDY (S. CIVIL ACTION B--81--743 OWENS-ILLINOIS, INC., ET AL CECIL OVERSTREET /S. CIVIL ACTION B-81-759 OWENS-ILLINOIS, INC . , ET AL JOHN D. BURKE 1S . CIVIL ACTION B-81-920 OWENS-ILLINOIS, INC., ET AL* U (fl Q No. 87--C-1934 TOMMIE L. HEATHMAN AND <IFE DIXIE HEATHMAN IS. * IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF * BRAZORIA COUNTY, TEXAS DWENS--CORNING FIBERGLAS ORPORATION, ET AL 23RD JUDICIAL DISTRICT DEPOSITION OF Robert L. Bockstahler March 2, 1989 Bean 8 Manning 1500 San Felipe Plaza 5847 San Felipe Road Houston, Texas 7705T Reported by; Karen K. Harris Texas CSR No. 1225/Notary Public Nell McCallum & Associates 2900 Smith, Suite 104 Houston, Texas 77006 (713) 523-3767 Taxable Cost: $ Charged to Mr. Lawrence Madeksho, Bar No. 12797500 Attorney for Plaintiffs ORAL DEPOSITION OF ROBERT L. BOCKSTAHLER 4 1 APPEARANCES: 2 3 For the Plaintiffs: 4 5 Mr. Lawrence Madeksho 6 Law Offices of Lawrence Madeksho 7 8320 Gulf Freeway, Suite 218 8 Houston,.Texas 77087 9 ni3)wi-02si 10 Mr. Robert E. Ballard 11 Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Ballard, Onstad & 12 Friend 13 800 Commerce Street 14 Houston, Texas 77002 15 . 16 For the Defendant Eagle-Plcher Industries, Inc.: 17 18 Mr. Jack Manning 19 Beon & Manning 20 1500 San Felipe Plaza 21 5847 San Felipe 22 Houston, Texas 77057 23 24 25 *tct Ml* CAM f * * fit****** ORAL DEPOSITION OF ROBERT L. BOCKSTAHLER 5 1 Mr. James B. Pressly, Jr. 2 Haynsworth, Marion, McKay & Guerard 3 C & S Tower, 11th Floor 4 75 Beattie Place 5 Greenville, South Carolina 29602 6 7 Ms. Kathryn L. Goetz 8 Eagle-Picher Industries, Inc. 9 580 Walnut Street 10 Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 11 12 13 For the Defendant Owens-Illinois, Inc: 14 15 Mr. George T. Shipley 16 Baker & Botts 17 One Shell Plaza . 18 910 Louisiana 19 Houston, Texas 77002-4995 20 21 Videographer: 22 23 Lou Getz 24 25 NFUt Mr rAMMM - ORAL DEPOSITION OF ROBERT l. BOCKSTAHLER 6 1 2 Deposition of ROBERT L. BOCKSTAHLER, called 3 by Plaintiffs on March 2, 1989, at Bean & Manning, 1500 4 San Felipe Plaza, 5847 San Felipe, Houston, Texas 5 77057, commencing at 10:03 a.m., before Karen K. Harris, 6 CSR No. 1225 and Notary Public in and for the State of 7 Texas. 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ORAL DEPOSITION OF ROBERT L. BOCKSTAHLER 11 1 2 (Dartez Exhibit 3 Nos. 1 and 2 4 were marked for 5 identification.) 6 7 8 ROBERT L. BOCKSTAHLER, 9 being duly sworn, testified as follows: 10 11 EXAMINATION 12 13 QUESTIONS BY MR. MADEKSHO 14 Q Mr. Bockstahler, would you state your name for 15 court and jury, please, sir? 16 A Robert L. Bockstahler, B. 0. C. K. S. T. A. H. 17 18 Q Mr. Bockstahler, we are present in the office 19 of the lawyers representing Eagle-Plcher in Houston 20 Texas; is that correct? 21 A In the personal injury litigation, that's 22 correct. 23 Q And today's date is March 2, 1989; is that 24 correct? 25 A Yes, it is. It's also my wife's 56th birthday. ORAL DEPOSITION OF ROBERT L. BOCKSTAHLER 48 1 Q And Isn't it also true, sir, that they, the 2 awyers for Eagle-Picher, had discussed the dangers and 3 he hazards of asbestos with Dr. Kenneth Smith in 1964? 4 A I don't recall exactly what they discussed. I 5 ould need some documents to review. 6 Q Yes, sir. 7 Mr. Bockstahler, let me -- 8 MR. MADEKSHO: Those need to be 9 handed to the court reporter. And I 10 would like to have this next document 11 marked as Plaintiffs' next in order. 12 * 13 (Dartez Exhibit 14 No. 12 15 was marked for 16 identification.) 17 18 QUESTIONS BY MR. MADEKSHO; 19 Q Mr. Bockstahler, are you ready? 20 A Yes. 21 Q Mr. Bockstahler, the document that you have 22 before you, sir, is that not dated concerning a 23 conference held at the Insulation plant in Joplin, 24 Missouri on February 19th, 1964? 25 A The top line of this document statesConference ORAL DEPOSITION OF ROBERT L. BOCKSTAHLER 49 1 February 19th, 1964, Eagle-Picher. Next line is 2 Insulation Plant, Joplin, Missouri, is what it states. 5 Q Mr. Bockstahler, were you aware, sir, that the 4 lawyers for Eagle-Picher have had this document ever 5 since 1964? | I 6 A Yes, I'm aware of that. 7 Q And you were aware of that when you were first 8 assigned to the legal department in 1981, were you not? 9 A I believe I probably first saw this document 10 sometime in '82. Not immediately, no. 11 Q Could you explain, then, sir, as to -- could 12 you explain to the court and the Jury for us as to why, 13 as far as your testimony on behalf of Eagle-Picher, has 14 never mentioned this meeting with Dr. Kenneth Smith in 15 February of 1964 concerning the dangers of asbestos? 16 A I was advised by our attorneys, both those 17 working for the company and also retained by the 18 company, that this document was considered privileged, 19 and I was not to discuss it. 20 Q Mr. Bockstahler, do you see some names 21 mentioned at the meeting -- and you're familiar with 22 this document? 23 A Yes, I am. 24 Q And could you tell us who Mr. Charles Dautel 25 is. sir? ORAL DEPOSITION OF ROBERT L. BOCKSTAHLER 50 1 A Mr. Dautel in 1964 was the assistant secretary 2 f Eagle-Picher Industries. 3 Q And he was Lawyer, right? 4 A He was a lawyer. 5 Q And could you tell us who Alton Jones was? 6 A Alton Jones was the plant manager of the Joplin 7 nsulation plant in that time frame. 8 Q Yes, sir. And actually, you know that this 9 ocument that you have before you was prepared by Mr. A. 10 . Spencer, Jr., a lawyer -- 11 A Yes. 12 Q -- that was representing Eagle-Picher at this 13 ;ime in the case? 14 A No. Mr. Spencer was with a Joplin law firm. 15 Q And he was representing Eagle-Picher in a 16 .awsuit that had been filed against them at that time; 17 .sn't that true? 18 A That is correct, sir. 19 Q And thatMr. Spencer, after he had prepared 20 this document, he sent it to Eagle-Picher's lawyer, Mr. 21 Charles Dautel. Isn't that true? 22 A Yes, that is true. 23 Q And this document discusses the meeting with 24 Dr. Kenneth Smith, the medical director of the 25 Johns-Manville Corporation; is that true? ORAL DEPOSITION OF ROBERT L. BOCKSTAHLER 51 1 A That's Hhat the first and second line of the 2 ocument indicate. 3 Q Isn't it also true, sir, that in regard to this 4 ebruary 1964 document, that Mr. Horner also met with 5 r. Kenneth Smith? 6 A Yes, sir. 7 Q And could you tell us who -- actually, that was 8 ir. Harner for Eagle-Picher. 9 A Well, Dr. Harner is a doctor of chemistry, not 10 i medical doctor. 11 Q Could you tell us who Mr. Paul Lasse was for 12 iagle-Picher in 1964? 13 A Mr. Losse in 1964 was the director of research 14 for the fibers department. 15 Q And Charles Dautel, the lawyer for 16 Eagle-Picher, was in what capacity in 1964, again, sir? 17 A I believe assistant secretary. 18 Q Isn't it true, sir, that in the meeting that 19 Eagle-Picher and their lawyers had with Dr. Kenneth 20 Smith in February of 1964, that Dr. Smith gave examples 21 of very brief exposures to asbestos resulting in serious 22 asbestosis? 23 A What page does that appear orn? 24 Q It's on the second page, sir. 25 A On the second paragraph on the second page? ORAL DEPOSITION OF ROBERT L. BOCKSTAHLER 52 1 Q Yes, sir. 2 A He gives an example. I would say singular, not 3 4 Q Hell, doesn't the document reflect. Hr. 5 ockstahler, that Dr. Kenneth Smith from Johns-Hanville 6 ave an example of samples taken of a man who was 7 xposed approximately five minutes an hour, who 8 ustalned a serious asbestosls in a working period of 9 inly a few months. Isn't that true? 10 A It states that. It also states that he agreed 11 :hat human tolerance would naturally enter into any 12 :ase, and what might be highly toxic to one man could be 13 :olerated by another for years, without disability. 14 - He stated that even limited exposure to a 15 small amount of calcine might result in disability to 16 Individuals if human tolerance was low. 17 Q Yes, sir. Now, calcine was also put into the 18 Eagle-Picher insulation materials, calcine diatomaceous 19 earth. Isn't that true? 20 A Calcined is the proper word, with a "D" on the 21 end. 22 Q Yes, sir. 23 A Yes, I believe in at least one product. 24 Q Yes, sir. And tell the court and Jury what 25 product that was. ORAL DEPOSITION OF ROBERT L. BOCKSTAHLER 53 1 A Without having exhaustive data in front of me, 2 believe that was 111 Cement, and they used a calcined 3 iggregate from the Clark, Nevada plant in that material. 4 Q Yes, sir. And isn't it also true that Dr. 5 :enneth Smith told the lawyers from Eagle-Picher at that 6 leeting that any asbestos exposure would be industrially 7 lazardous? 8 A If it states it somewhere, that's what he said, 9 then the record speaks for itself. 10 Q Yes, sir. On Page 3 of that document. 11 A . In what area? . 12 Q That would be in the third paragraph. Hr. 13 14 A Where it refers to the cement operation? 15 Q Yes, sir. And particularly, that any asbestos 16 would be industrially hazardous. Isn't that true? 17 A It states: Would constitute an occupational 18 hazard. 19 Q Yes, sir. 20 A It states that. 21 Q And that Dr. Smith was quite positive that any 22 operation involving the calcined or asbestos would 23 constitute an occupational hazard. Isn't that true? 24 A That might be what he states, But he is wrong. 25 Q But of course you have also become aware, sir, ORAL DEPOSITION OF ROBERT L. BOCKSTAHLER 54 1 hat this was not exactly news to Eagle-Picher in 1964. 2 sn't that true? 3 A In what manner? 4 Q Well, isn't it true, sir, that Eagle-Picher -- 5 ell, let me strike thot. Let me Just back up for just 6 minute. 7 Mr. Bockstahler, in regard to your 8 nvolvement with the asbestos'litigation over the years, 9 ou have kept up Hith the evidence as it's developed in 10 he area of asbestos litigation; is that true? 11 A As best I can for an old man. 12 a And you understand that Dr. Kenneth Smith had 13 :estified that he was aware that a nonoccupational 14 sxposure to asbestos was dangerous in the 1940's. 15 HR. HANNING: I'm going to 16 object to your recitation of what 17 someone else has testified, and 18 asking this witness to express any 19 opinion or comment on what someone 20 else may have testified to. 21 QUESTIONS BY MR. MADEKSHO: 22 Q Have you become familiar with that fact, sir? 23 A No, sir, I have not. 24 Q Is today the first time you hove heard thot? 25 A That is correct, sir.