Document EvMQOanK7jr5N43ZvM8wpavLg

Jul y 11, 19kO Mr. 3 . C. Led er Eth yl Gasolin e Coip r aticn C h r y sl e r Bui d i n g New Yor k C i t y Yew Yor k Dear Mr. Lod r : i I h ave r e c e i v e d fr om Mr. Xaley t h is m orn in g a copy o f a l e t t e r from Ku r t , Reed, Sap p e n fie ld and Cooper, a t t o r n e y ^ fo ^ ^ a r v | h in d C asu alt y Company c o n c e r n i n g t h e c a se o f an employee o f Oran ge St d t e O il Company. I t w ou ld a p p e a r t o me fr om t h is correspon den ce t h at th i3 case h as reach ed the st age in which no fu r t h e r a c t io n sh ou ld be taken by r e p r e se n t a t iv e s of Eth yl Gasolin e Corporation w ith out le g a l ad v ice . Accordin gly I th in k i t w ise to giv e you a b r i e f r esu m e o f wh at h a3 b e e n den e i n c o n n e c t i o n Y*i :h t h i s c a se f o r _you r i n f o r m a t i o n . A f t e r t h a t , i f t h e r e i s a n y t h in g w h ich you w ish me t o do f u r t h e r , I s h a l l b e pleased to carry out your in st r u ct io n s. in form ed o f the acu te i l l n e s s and d eath o f t h r o u gh m e d i c a l men i n Ja c k s o n v i l l e , on e o i ^ n o m ^ v r o t e i n an d a sk e d me f o r c e r t a in it e m s o f in fo r m at io n to en ab le him to a r r iv e a t a d i a g n o si s.; Prom th e d e sc r i p t i o n o f th e m an 's i l l n e s s , I s u sp e c t e d t h a t h e h ad h ad 3ome e x p o su r e t o t e t r a e t h y l le ad , and b e fo r e giv in g any opin ion in the c a se , I ask ed t h a t t i s s u e s be se n t me f o r a n a l y s i s . On a n a l y 3 i 3 o f th ese t i s s u e s , i t became q u it e ap p ar en t t h a t the d eceased h ad h ad a ve|ry se r i o u s e xp o su r e to le a d com poun ds, and on su bsequ en t con ver sation w ith the d o c t o r s, the n atu r e o f h i s i l l n e s s co in cid e d w it h t h e se fi n d i n g s and b r o u gh t ab ou t the d e fin it e d iagn o sis of fa t a l t e t r ae t h y l lead poison in g. *--H C\J ; I i n s t i t u t e j d an i n v e s t i g a o t io n o f t h e|cir cu m st an ces th rough th e u sd al ch an n els and o was a b l e t o e s t a b l i s h t h a t t h i s man i n t h e compan y o f o t h e r workman, h ad en gaged in c l e a n in g a tank: in Tampa, ki F l o r i d a , on a d at e c o in c id in g w it h th e e x p e c t a t io n o f the on set o f acute illn e ss. Furth er in v e st igatio n d is clo se d the j'act th at th e tan k had been clean ed w ith out the exer cise of proper precau tion s, d espite the fa c t t h a t ou r p r e cau t io n ar y r e g u la t io n s wero in th e h an ds o f th e management, and d e sp r to th e fr e q u e n t w arn in gs o f our N 24493 su c h t a n k s . The t a n k i n q u e st i o n h ad b e e n U3ed f o r i r r e g u l a r b le n d in g o p e r a t io n s a t a tim e when Orange S t a t e O i l Company e n t e r e d i n t o t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n o f le ad e d g a so l i n e . T h is was d on e, o f c o u r se , a t th e r e q u e st o f Grange St a t e and alt h ou gh I t i s a pr oced u r e w h ich we a v o i d so f a r a s p o s s i b l e , i t i s n o t t o be r e g a r d e d a s c a r e l e s s or n e g l i g e n t on t h e p a r t o f Et h y l G aso lin e C o r p o r at io n sin c e a t th e tim e i t was don e, i t was c o n sid e r e d n e c e ssa r y an d, in f a c t , un der p r op er cir cu it st an ce s would be co n sid e r e d so t od ay. The t an k was m ar k ed , in a c c o r d a n c e 'with o u r p r o c e d u r e , fo r c a llin g at t e n t io n to a dan gerous sit u a t io n . Pre c au t io n a r y m e asu r e s h ad d e f i n i t e l y b een a d v ise d . Th ese were com p letely ign or ed and t h er e can be no q u e st io n , e xce p t , p e r h ap s, from a l e g a l p o in t o f view , t h a t th e f a i l u r e t o usje them w as a m a t t e r o f g r o s s n e g l i g e n c e on th e p a r t o f th e m an agem en t. : At th e t im e I d i s c u s s e d t h i s c a se w it h t h e O r an ge S t a t e O i l Company o f f i c i a l s , p o in t was made o f th e f a c t t h a t an y d a n ge r s r e s i d e n t w ith in t h is tan k were the r e su lt o f th e act io n o f the Eth yl Gasolin e Corporation in "sp ik in g" t h is tan k. I d id n ot ar gu e t h i s p o in t sin c e I was t h e r e fo r th e pu rpose o f r e t a in in g in for m at ion and o f ask in g fo r coop er at ive a c t io n , b u t X did p o in t out t h at i f any f a u l t on th e p a r t o f th e Et h y l G aso lin e Co r p o r at io n cou ld be shown t o h av e o c c u r r e d , I w as c o n f i d e n t t h a t o f f i c i a l s o f t h e C o r p o r a t io n w ou ld make no a t t e m p t t o s i d e s t e p t h e i r resp on sib ilities. After a th orough -goin g in v e st ig a t io n which e st a b lish e d th e fa c t s in con n ection w it h th e c le a n in g o f t h i s t a n k , I made f u l l r e p o r t t o th e o f f i c i a l s o f IO ran ge St a t e O il Compan y, w h ich r e p o r t , p r e su m a b ly , t h e y p a s s e d on t o t h e M ar y lan d C a s u a l t y Com pany. In con n ection w ith t h is r e p o r t , I appended a l e t t e r i n d i c a t i n g t h a t i n my o p i n i o n e v e r y e f f o r t sh o u l d be made p r om p t ly t o com pen sat e th e fa m ily o f th e d e c e a se d and t h u s to avoid l i t i g a t i o n in a case th e issu e s o f which were e n t ir e ly c le a r . On f u r t h e r i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f t h e f a t e o f t h e men who w er e e m p loy e d fc it h t h e d e c e a se d in c le a n in g th e t an k , i t was e st a b l i sh e d t h a t an o t h e r man, a n e gr o , h ad| d e v e lo p e d m e n t al symptoms an d an ab n or m al b e h a v i o r f o r ! w h ich h e was j a i l e d b y p o l i c e o f f i c e r s . No p h y si c i a n waS c a l l e d t o se e t h i s man a t an y t im e b u t h e became more a c u t e ly i l l and d ied in the j a i l w ith ou t b e n e fit o f a n y m e d i c a l c a r e . The f a c t s c o n c e r n i n g t h i s m an , a s `w e ll a s t h e o t h e r s who w ere em p loyed w it h h im , w er e a p p a r e n t l y HE 0021115 3 a m a t t e r o f n o i n t e r e s t t o O r an ge S t a t e O il Company, an d i n d e e d t h e y ma|dQ l i t t l e o r no e f f o r t t o a i d o u r I n v e s t i gator in the Accum ulation of the fa c t s. Th eir a t t it u d e h as been t h a t o f com plete w illin g n e ss to av o id an y and a l l r e sp o n sib ilit y and even sin ce t h is u n for t u n at e se t o f c i r c u m st a n c e s, t h e y h av e sh own no a p p r e c i a b l e i n t e r e s t in the u se o f iproper p r ecau t io n s in t h e ir su bsequ en t o p e r at io n s o ft h i s ty p e. Accord in gly I sh ou ld be very so r r y to see the Eth y l Gasolin e Corporation u n dertake an y a c t i o n i n ;c o o p e r a t i n g w it h O r an ge S t a t e 0^1 Company t o p r o t e c t th e l a t t e r from th e con sequ en ces o f t h e ir n e glige n c e . Moreover I sh ou ld h at e to see any accep tan ce o f th e r e sp o n si b i l i t y on th e p a r t o f Et h y l G asolin e C o r p o r a t i o n , i Oh t h e o t h e r h an d I sh o u l d l i k e v e r y much t o see t h e u n fo r t u n a t e v i c t i m s o f t h i s c a r e l e s s n e s s com p e n sa t e d i n some m e a su r e , an d a l t h o u g h t h e r e l a t i v e s o f t h e d e c e a se d n e gr o w i l l p r o b a b ly n ev er make an y t r o u b le , i t w ou ld seem t o me t h a t so m e t h in g sh o u l d be don e f o r th em , i f in d e e d su c h r e l a t i v e s e x i s t . Vie h av e h ad t r a g i c m at t e r s to dekl w ith b e fo r e and alt h ou gh t h ese h ave alw ays b een cau se fo r r e g r e t , so f a r a s I know t h ey h ave alw ay s b e e n h a n d le d w it h some a p p e a r a n c e o f d e ce n cy by t h e c u st o m e r co m p an ie s w it h whom we h ave w o r k e d . T h i s on e h a s r e v e a l e d th e m o st d i s g u s t i n g l a c k o f o r d i n a r y human d e c e n c y an d aj c o m p le t e c a r e l e s s n e s s w it h r e s p e c t t o t h e f a t e an d w e l f a r e o f e m p lo y e e s an d t h e i r d e p e n d e n t s. As a con sequen ce o f t h i s, I sh ou ld be q u it e u n w illin g to be in an y l i t i g a t i o n on b e h a l f o f Oran ge S t a l e O il Comoany. Ag a m a t t e r o f f a c t , I t was n e c e s s a r y f o r me t o make f u l l r e p o r t o f my f i n d i n g s t o p h y sician s of th e d eceased Hubbard in Ja c k so n v ille , sin ce i t was on ly t h r ou gh t h e i r I n q u ir y t h a t I r e c e iv e d an y o r i g i n a l I n fo r m a t io n on t h e c a s e . T h e r e fo r e i f t h e y w ere t o c a l l u p o n !me t o t e s t i f y i n su p p o r t o f t h e r e p o r t p r o v id ed them, I sh ou ld f e e l t h a t I was p r o fe ssio n a l l y bound to do so , even a t w h atever p er so n al expen se I m igh t be pu t t o i n so d o i n g . A c c o r d i n g l y , a s y o u can s e e , I am n o t i n p o s i t i o n t o Si d e s t e p my p r o f e s s i o n a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s . I am q u i t e su r e t h a t y o u w ou ld n o t w i sh me t o do so b u t I make m e n t io n o f t h i s p o i n t o n l y t o c l a r i f y my own p o s i t i o n In r e lat io n to th is case. 1 sh ou ld be gla d to su pply you w it h an y andj a l l o f th e r e p o r t s an d co r r esp o n d en ce in ou r f i l e s In con n ection w ith t h is unhappy a f f a i r . | C or d ially you rs, RAKsi o R o b e r t A. Keh oe, M.D.