Document EvN3Mnmm3j49ajrvz2x408BOn
FILE NAME Kent KNT DATE 1991 Apr 16
DOC KNT018
DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION Legal - Deposition of Elise Comproni
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net
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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
) PETER AND ANGELA IERARDI )
Plaintiffs
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VS.
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LORILLARD INC ET AL
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Defendants
,
) _
C.A. NO 90-7049
DEPOSITION OF ELISE COMPRONI witness called on behalf of the Plaintiffs
taken pursuant to the provisions of the
Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure before
Teresa Sciaba a Notary Public and Registered Professional Reporter in and for the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts at the offices of Nutter McClennen & Fish One International Place
Boston Massachusetts on Tuesday April 16 1991 commencing at 10:25 m
.
DORIS M. JONES & ASSOCIATES INC
Professional Shorthand Reporters
59 Temple Place
Boston Massachusetts 02111
617 542-0039
EXHET
DORIS M. JONES & ASSOCIATES INC
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PROCEEDINGS PROCEDINGS
Elise Comproni having first been duly sworn testified as follows in answer to direct interrogatories by Mr. Johnson
Q.
Mr. Comproni good morning
A.
Good morning
Q.
Mr. Comproni we've met before
My name
is Tom Johnson I represent Peter and Angela
Ierardi in the case that's pending in the Eastern
District of Pennsylvania the defendants being
Lorillard and Hollingsworth & Vose
We're here
to take your deposition Now Mr. Comproni could you please give
me your full name and spell your last name for
the record
A.
It's Elise Comproni L and the
last name is O
Q.
And what is your business address
A.
It's 150 Tremont Street Boston
Q.
And by whom are you employed
A.
By the Commonwealth of Massachusetts the
Department of Public Health
Q.
May I ask you sir how long have you
been employed by the Commonwealth of
DORIS M. JONES & ASSOCIATES INC
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am
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Massachusetts
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A.
39 years and approximately 6 months
Q.
What year did you start with the
Commonwealth of Mass
A.
1951 and the month of October
Q.
And what department were you in when you
first started with the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts
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A.
My first job with the Commonwealth was in
the Department of Labor and Industries the
Division of Occupational Hygiene
And how long were you with the Department
of Labor and Industries and Occupational Hygiene
A.
Until May of 1968 some 16 years
..
And what positions did you hold with the
Department of Occupational Hygiene
A.
I started as an engineerianigd and
became an industrial hygienist and from there an
industrial hygiene engineer
Q.
And after you left Occupational Health
what did you move onto at that point
A.
I left the Division of Occupational
.
Hygiene and went to the department --
Massachusetts Department of Public Health
DORIS M. JONES & ASSOCIATES INC
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Q.
What sort of work did you do for them
A.
I set up the air sampling network for the
Division of Air Pollution Control in the
Department of Public Health
Q.
And how long were you with the Department
of Public Health
A.
I worked for Public Health for
approximately four or five years until such time
as the Department of Environmental Protection was
formed and being in the air division that
division was moved into the Department of
Environmental Protection
So I worked in that
department for approximately ten years
Q.
And your work in that area was air
sampling and air pollution
A.
Yes set up the Division of Air
Pollution Control
Q.
And what was your next position with the
Commonwealth
A.
Well I left DEP came back to the
Department of Public Health in 1978 and I've been employed in the Department of Public Health again
since that time
Q.
In what areas -- what were your areas of
DORIS M. JONES & ASSOCIATES INC
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concern
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A.
My title was Chief of Environmental
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Hygiene Department of Public Health
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Q.
And is that your current position
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A.
Yes
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Q.
May I ask what your date of birth is
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A.
May 25th 1927
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Q.
Now getting back to your first position
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with Occupational Health what training did you
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have to qualify you for your initial position
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with the Department of Occupational Health
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A.
Well I have a bachelor's degree in
education and math and science
When I came to
work for the department I spent approximately six months in training in air sampling and in
ventilation control
Q.
And did you have an immediate supervisor
during your early years with the Department of
Occupational Health
A.
Yes yes
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Q.
Who was that
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A.
I worked for a gentleman named Harold
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Bavley who was the chief engineer
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Q.
And directing your attention to the early
DORIS M. JONES & ASSOCIATES INC
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1950s did you have occasion as part of your
duties in the Department of Occupational Health
to visit factories and other industrial sites
A.
Yes that was our primary responsibility
to evaluate health hazards in industrial plants
Q.
Did that responsibility cause you to
visit a plant known as H & V Specialties
MR BRAKE
Objection to the form
A.
Yes it did
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Q.
And did you make one visit or more than
one visit
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A.
I made several visits to their plant in
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West Groton Massachusetts
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Q.
Do you have in front of you certain
reports that emanated from your department during
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those years
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A.
Yes
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Q.
Could you identify for the record the
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dates of the reports that reflect your visits to
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the Hollingsworth -- the H & V Specialties plant
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A
Well the first visit was on October
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27th 1952 jointly with Harold Bavley
I also
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went there on April 15th 1953 with Harold
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Bavley
I was there on June 11th 1953 with
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Harold Bavley
I was there on January 27th 1954
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with Harold Bavley and also on May 21st 1954
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with Harold Bavley
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MR BRAKE
Mr. Comproni the
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documents you've just looked at are those
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documents from your files or were they provided
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to you by the plaintiffs in this case
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THE WITNESS
These documents wer
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from the files of the Division of Occupational
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Hygiene
I also asked the legal firm of Johnson
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& Childs to provide me with copies of my
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documents as well since they had copies made for
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themselves
MR BRAKE
But did you separately
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obtain documents from the division
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THE WITNESS
These particular ones
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came from Johnson & Childs
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MR MCELANEY
off the record
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record discussion
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MR JOHNSON
By the dates of the
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visits I think you'll see Andy that there's a
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date of a visit and there's a date of a report
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There's usually a day or two difference between
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them
So I'll give you the dates of the visits
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Q.
At that point in time back in the 1950s
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what diseases were you concerned about with
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respect to asbestos exposure
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A.
Asbestosis and lung cancer were known
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effects from exposure to asbestos
Subsequently
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I believe mesothelioma was considered -- the only
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cause of mesothelioma was exposure to asbestos
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dust
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MR COFER
Objection
Move to
.
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strike responsive to the question and beyond
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this witness's expertise
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Q.
And in the course did you have the
i
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knowledge -- how did you acquire your information
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about asbestosis and lung cancer
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A.
The Division of Occupational Hygiene has
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reams of information and it was up to us to be
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knowledgeable about these hazards when we went
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out to make an evaluation and my supervisor was
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certain that I knew what the hazard was
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Q.
And did you explain to the people at
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Hollingsworth & Vose - strike that question
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Did you explain to the people at H & V
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Specialties about these hazards
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MR BRAKE
Objection
Pr
DORIS M.
JONES & ASSOCIATES INC
nel
strike
It's apparent your success in working
with the witness however I think you need to lay
a proper foundation first and you must not
dispense with those formalities I believe Mr. Comproni is not only
testifying about information knowledgeable to him
at the time but information which he has learned
since
Certainly if he knew this knowledge at
the time I suspect his actions would have been
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different
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MR JOHNSON
That's a very
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interesting little statement counsel
I would
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ask that since we've got two defendants here that
we
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you decide whoever it is you want to object to my
ew 15
questions rather than have all four of you chime
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wee
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in
eran 17
+)
MoreoverI would request that you state
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your basis for the objection and allow the
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witness to answer rather than interrupt him
I'm
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sure that you can all keep track of whatever
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objections you make and make them at the
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conclusion of his answer to the question rather
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than interrupt his answer
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Q.
Mr. Comproni I think my last -- I think
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what I was about to ask you when I was
interrupted is what leads you to believe that
they were cognizant of the hazards of the
asbestos when you visited them in the 1950s
MR BRAKE
Objection
A.
We discussed that at the time we were
doing our sampling
Q.
You discussed it with whom
A.
With the plant manager and with
Mr. O'Malley the foreman
Q.
What's your best recollection of the gist
of those discussions
A.
To merely explain to them that we were
here to evaluate their potentially hazardous
working condition and that our test results would
determine whether further controls were necessary
in the plant
MR BOOKSPAN
I'm sorry
A.
Pardon
MR BOOKSPAN
Continue
I thought
you were done
A.
I am go ahead
MR BOOKSPAN
Can you read the
answer back please
RADTS
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TANKS
ARASANTATTS
INC
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MR BRAKE
Objection
A.
Yes
Q.
What sort of companies come to mind that
would comply more quickly
MR BRAKE
Objection
A.
As a general rule we get compliance a lot
faster and more complete with large companies who
are quick to recognize hazards and are probably more willing to avoid litigation than the smaller
companies who are not quite as well versed in
these matters
The impact of course is greater on the small -- economic impact is greater on the small
company than it is on a larger one slower compliance in general
So
you
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get
MA BRAKE
Motion to strike
Q.
In the course of your visits to H & V
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Specialties that you've described did you come
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to understand what they were manufacturing
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A.
Yes
They were manufacturing filter
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media for cigarettes
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Q.
Given your position with the Commonwealth
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of Massachusetts at that point how did you react
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to the fact that they were putting cigarette ~~
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asbestos in cigarette filters
MR COFER
Objection
MR BRAKE
Objection
A.
Well we were appalled at this sort of
thing but it is beyond our power to do anything
about that
Our responsibility was to evaluate
worker exposure to asbestos
We worked for the
Department of Labor and Industries
MR COFER
Move to strike that
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answer but would you also please read the answer
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back because I didn't catch the beginning of it
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The reporter read back the
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last question and answer
Q.
Mr. Comproni can you explain what you
mean when you say you were appalled
MR BRAKE
Objection
MR MCELANEY
Objection
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MR COFER
Objection
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MR BOOKSPAN
Objection
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MR FRAZIER
Objection
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A.
Well asbestos is a known carcinogen
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causing asbestosi and lung cancer and to put it
~~
that you 23
in a product
are actually breathing air
ewr 24
from is not in keeping with the best health
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ER
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practices that -- period
MR COFER
Move to strike
Q.
Did you have occasion to discuss the use
of asbestos in a cigarette filter with the people at H & V Specialties when you visited them
A.
oh yes
Q.
Tell us about that
MR BRAKE
Objection
MR COFER
Objection hearsay
A
Well We were curious as to why they
would go to a toxic material like that for
cigarette filter
And of course their answer was
it was a very good filter material
And it's
true except that the use of it in that type of
product we questioned
Q.
And how did they respond when you
questioned it
MR BRAKE
Objection
A.
Well they apparently felt that that was
a satisfactory use of asbestos
MR BRAKE
Motion to strike
The
question asked you what did they say
MR JOHNSON
Excuse me counsel
don't raise your voice please
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MR BRAKE
If you can recall
A.
Yeah well I don't recall the exact
words
Q.
What's the gist of what they said as best
you can
MR BRAKE
Objection
A.
The gist was that they felt it was
satisfactory use of their product and they
continued to manufacture it
Q.
Do you know what particular cigarette
this product was being used in
A.
They told us it was used in the Kent
cigarettes
MR COFER
Objection
Move to
strike
Q.
Mr. Comproni I'm going to read a
description of the cigarette product to you and
I'll ask you a couple of questions about it
And remember KENT and only KENT has the
Micronite Filter made of a pure free
completely harmless material that is not only so
effective but so safe that it actually is used
to help filter the air in operating rooms of
leading hospitals
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A.
Yes
Q.
When did you first become aware of any
hazard associated with exposure to asbestos
A.
My job was to work for the chief
engineer
The engineer was responsible for dust
physical hazards and ventilation
So I was
given extensive training in calibrating sampling
instrumentation measuring ventilation systems
and even designing hooding for local exhaust
systems
Q.
And in connection with that work at some
point you becam aware that asbestos could be
harmful if inhaled by human beings is that
right
A.
Very definitely
Q.
As best you can recall when was that
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A.
1951 late in 1951 when I was hired
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shortly thereafter I was hired
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Q.
And I think you told us you were hired in
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October of '51
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A.
Yes
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Q.
So in the first few months that you
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worked at the Division of Industrial Hygiene you
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became aware that asbestos could be harmful is
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Q.
Indeed it was fully informed as of the
then existing state of scientific and technical
knowledge about the hazards of asbestos correct
A.
Yes
MR JOHNSON
I think your question
is a bit leading counsel but I'm sure the
witness can answer it
Q.
Okay
Now --
A.
Stokinger is the -- Herb Stokinger was
the expert in Cincinnati Ohio
Q.
Who did the NIOSH work you were talking
about
A
Yes
Q.
Now as of 1951 Were you a member of the
association -- of the American Conference
rather of Industrial Governmental Hygienists
A.
No you had to work as I recall it
either one or two years in the field before you
could join
And I joined as soon as I was
eligible
Q.
You did join as soon as you were
eligible
A.
Both AIHA and ACGIH
Q.
Just so we're clear the ACGIH is the
DORIS M. JONES & ASSOCIATES INC