Document DMwQRGQwwQkRyz3YveRJk5gpN

10 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, Monday, March 16, IVtH Asbestos-Poisoning Claims Are Settled, Possibly Setting Precedent for Industry |-> * , : - :'v? -vt. , . r *. . : -' ; - ,'3 : -.. >.'-TV :.. By Raymond A. Joseph Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal NEWARK, N.J.-An out-of-court settle ment announced by a federal judge here ' could become a pattern for thousands of similar cases involving claims' against as bestos companies and their insurers. Clarkson S. Fisher, a federal judge in New Jersey, said Friday a settlement was the defendants decided to work for an out-ofcourt settlement a few days before formal trial began last Jan. 5, the judge said. It couldn't be ascertained how much each defendant contributed to the fund. Lawyers for both sides said they were sworn to se crecy. Johns-Manville and Metropolitan Life declined to comment. The other defendants couldn't be reached. reached in the six-year-old case, which had Cautious About Claims consolidated nine suits containing 680 sepa Meanwhile, Raybestos's accountants are rate claims of $2 million each. Judge Fisher being cautious about future claims against didn't disclose any amount in his official their client. They are concerned about which four-page settlement document. However, theory will prevail in assessing damages: the Associated Press said court records "exposure" or "manifestation." Advocates show that a S9.4 million fund has been set up to compensate 680 workers who had filed suits charging they were poisoned by asbes tos while working at a Raybestos-Manhattan Inc. plant in Passaic, N.J, A court clerk didn't dispute the figure. Defendants in 'the case, all makers of as bestos products, were Johns-Manville Corp., Asbestos Corp. of America and three Cana of "exposure" believe that liability and ex penses should be shared by insurers on a pro rata basis over the period of the plain tiffs exposure to asbestos. Advocates of "manifestation" assert that the insurance carriers on the date of the plaintiffs' manifestation of an asbestos-re lated disease should be responsible. dian concerns. Bell's Asbestos Co., Asbestos Two court decisions-including one by a Corp. and Cassier Asbestos Ltd. Metropoli federal appeals court-have used the expo tan Life Insurance Co. also was a defendant. sure theory. Raybestos-Manhattan wasn't a defen If the exposure concept is applied in the dant. The Raybestos plant'where the work ers were employed used material provided case of Raybestos, the company may be lia ble for claims it hadn't provided for. The by the defendants to make such products as brake shoes for automobiles. The company said Friday that its accountants, Alexander Grant & Co., New York, advised it that they intend to include a qualification in its next annual report covering financial statements concern arises because Raybestos can't cur rently document the carrier, nature and ex tent of its insurance coverage before Sep tember 1951 'and is "uncertain regarding the adequacy of its insurance coverage" for 1951 to 1962. Before the court, decisions, Raybes for 1978 to 1980. : ' li . . Judge Fisher said two senior Bergen tos said it believed it had adequate cover age, based on the manifestation concept. County Superior Court judges-^James I. Toscano and Roger W. Breslin Sr.-were ap Raybestos said that as of Jan.' 31 asbes pointed to process the claims and decide on tos-related complaints against it had .more how much each plaintiff should receive. than doubled to 5,375 from 2,240 at the end of Reviewing-...Cases. 1979. There was also a "significant in crease". in the level of settlements and re They are expected to complete their re lated expenses during last year, Raybestos view of cases by May 1. The funds will be said. The company added that additional as distributed by the end of the.year, Judge bestos-related suits seeking damages in un Fisher said. The reported settlement aver determined amounts may yet be filed. Thus, ages about $13,800 for each plaintiff, al Raybestos said it isn't possible to determine though how the money will be divided isn't its potential liability and the impact on its known. '- . financial condition. . Irving Selikoff, a professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, who As reported, Raybestos-Manhattan will in the early 1960s was among the first to post a loss for 1980, which will include as make known the dangers of asbestos, said bestos-related claims going back to 1951. that not all of those exposed to asbestos are harmed or contract the same disease. Martin Marietta AgreesIn studies of various groups exposed to asbestos he said, "one out of four, in some cases, and one out of five in others," would To Buy Assets of Firm eventually die from lung cancer; The dis ease most commonly referred to in connec tion with asbestos is asbestosis, a scarring of the lungs akin to emphysema. But Dr. Se likoff said that one out of 15 dies of mesothe lioma,' a type of lung cancer that is caused only try asbestos. - . . Judge Fisher hailed the settlement as "a first. \ . to speed the processing ol massive asbestos-related suits" without multiple trials."It would have taken 10 years to re By a Wall Street Journal StaffReporter . BETHESDA, Md. - Martin Marie7- Corp. said it agreed to purchase for p than $20 million the assets of Dalton / Products Co., Dalton, Ga. Dalton's/ consist primarily of five operating - ` crushing plants and quarries with cp r- annual capacity of more than four' tons."... / solve these suits,'.' if they had gone to trial Martin .Marietta has intersts / he said. \ - ' N `- Y num, aerospace products, cemer Lawyers representing the plaintiffs and . gregates: y -! - - K >. v. ~-- >;. /. lit HWBUI0005253