Document NeVQqjoNXeJbOvorqVBzzd1VE
Castleman File: US Gypsum w/c = with cover letter or memo If DATE = 0, undated
9 fit*CD-ROM Document #:USG 5^ Month/Year /
__ published article from trade journal __ published advertisement from trade journal __ government inspection results __ unpublished or internal report __ unpublished presentation from conference __ newspaper article __ letter __ memorandum __ industry warning labels __ industry sales literature __ industry recommended practices __ meeting agenda __ minutes __ attendee list __ legal filing of defense __ legal filing of plaintiff __ BC notes
/_ I < ^*1 --
/ 1
1 STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA )
) SS :
2 COUNTY OF KEtRSHAW
)
A
3 STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINE, COUNTY OF KERSHAW
IN* THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS 4
KERSHAW COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, )
5)
Plaintiff,
)
6)
vs.
) Nc 85-CP-28-58
7 W.R. GRACE AND CO., et al . ,
) )
8)
Defendants .
)
9
1C
11
1 2 The deposition of SUZANNE KAY TORREY,
1 3 taken in the above-entitled cause, before SUSAN M.
1 4 MARTINO, a Notary Public vithin and for the County
1 5 of Cook, State of Illinois, and a Certified
1 6 Shorthand Reporter of said state at 101 South Wacker
1 7 Drive, Chicago, Illinois, on the 29th day of July,
1 8 A. D. , 1 986 , at 9:30 a.m.
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2
1 PRESENT
2 MR. DANIEL A. SPEIGHTS, (304 Lee Avenue,
3 Hampton, South Carolina 29924)
4 and
5 HUMPHREY, FARRINGTON, PRINS & McCLAIN, (123 West Kansas,
6 Independence, Missouri 64050), by: MR. KENNETH B. McCLAIN,
7 appeared on behalf cf the Plaintiff;
8 MORGAN, LEWIS & BOCKIUS,
9 (2000 One Logan Square, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103), by:
1 0 MR. E. BARCLAY CALE, JR.,
1 1 and
1 2 TURNER, FADGET, GRAHAM & LANEY, (1801 Main Street,
1 3 Columbia, South Carolina 29202), by: MR. EDWIN P. MARTIN,
14 appeared on behalf of United States
1 5 Gypsum Company.
16
1 7 REPORTED BY: SUSAN M. MARTINO, C.S.R.
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
mi?) 7F'>-R0B7
3
1 INDEX
2 WITNESS
3 SUZANNE KAY TORREY
4 By Nr. Speights
5 EXHIBITS
6 Plaintiff's Deposition Exhibit
7 No . 1
8 NO . 2
9
NO . 3
1 0 NO . 4
1 1 NO . 5
1 2 NO . 6
1 3 No . 7
1 4 No . 8 1 5 No . 9
1 6 NO . 1 0
1 7 No . 1 1
1 8 No. 1 2
1 9 NO . 1 3
20 No . 1 4
2 1 No . 1 5
2 2 NOS . 1 6 and ' 7
2 3 Nos . 1 3 , 1 9 and 2 0 24
EXAMINATION
12 22 2S 26 29 30 31 43 49 50 66 67 73 77 79 82 83
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4 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- 1
1 (WHEREUPON, the witness was duly 2 sworn.)
i
3 MR. SPEIGHTS: This deposition is taken 4 pursuant to notice and orders from the bench by the 5 Honorable John Hamilton Snith on July 2, 1986 and 6 July 22, 1986 which rulings are going to be 7 memorialized in a written order probably to be filed 8 this week. The deposition will be conducted in 9 accordance with the applicable rules of civil 1 0 procedure. 1 1 SUZANNE KAY TORREY, 1 2 called as a witness herein, having been first duly 1 3 sworn, was examined and testified as follows: 1 4 EXAMINATION 1 5 BY MP. SPEIGHTS: 1 6 Q. Would you stare your full name, please? 1 7 A. Suzanne Kay, K-a-y, Torrey. 1 8 Q. What is ycur present address, Ms. Torrey? 1 9 A. 911 Gran, C-r-a-n, Evanston, Illinois. 2 0 Q. What is your business address? 2 1 A. 101 South Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois. 2 2 Q. I believe that's the corporate 23 headquarters of USG Corporation and U.S. Gypsum 24 Company, is than correct?
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1 A. It's the corporate headquarters of USG 2 Corporation. I'm not sure it's accurate any more to
i
3 say it's the headquarters of United States Gypsum 4 Company. 5 Q. My understanding, Ms. Torrey, is that you 6 are a lawyer, is that correct? 7 A. Yes, sir. 8 Q. And from 1977 until the end of 1984, you 9 were a lawyer at the U.S. Gypsum Company? 1 0 A. Correct. 1 1 Q. From 1985 until present, you have been a 1 2 lawyer with USG Corporation? 1 3 A. That's correct. 1 4 Q_. USG Corporation is the parent company of 1 5 U.S, Gypsum Company? 1 6 A Yes. 1 7 Q During this period of time, from 1977 1 8 until the present, you have not been engaged in 1 9 private practice, is that correct? 20 A That's correct. 2 1 Q You are or have been a salaried employee 22 of the company or the two companies? 2 3 A. Yes. 24 Q. I want to specifically address the period
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1 1977 until the end of 1984 when you were a lawyer 2 with U.S. Gypsum Company.
i
3 What was your title or what were your 4 titles during that period of time? 5 A. During that period of time, I held the 6 title of attorney, senior litigation attorney and 7 senior attorney-1itigation. 8 Q. Who did you report to in those positions? 9 A. Thad Snell, general counsel. He held 1 0 various titles also during that period. 1 1 Q. Did Mr. Snell later become vice president 1 2 of the company? 1 3 A. I believe he was vice president throughout 1 4 that entire time. 1 5 Q. Was Mr. Snell the senior attorney employed 1 6 by U.S. Gypsum Company throughout that period of 1 7 time? 1 8 A. Yes. 1 9 Q. During that period of time, again, 'll 20 until the end of 1984, did you have any involvement 2 1 with asbestos litigation? 22 A. Yes. 2 3 Q. Would you describe to me generally what 24 your involvement was.
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1 A. When I started with the company in 1977,
2 there were about 12 related cases in Knoxville 3 called the Knoxville cases.
1
4 I was brought into the company to work 5 with litigation liled against or on behalf of the
6 company, and these 12 cases were assigned to me at 7 that time.
8 That number grew progressively over the
9 years and I ended up with involvement generally, 1 0 first exclusively in the personal injury area, later 1 1 exclusively or primarily in the property damage
1 2 asbestos litigation.
1 3 Q. The 12 cases filed in Knoxville were
1 4 personal injury cases?
1 5 A. Yes. 1 6 Q. Those would be cases in which somebody 1 7 claimed to have an asbestos disease as a result of 1 8 exposure to some U.S. Gypsum product or products?
1 9 A. Yes.
20 Q. When did the change take place where your 2 1 involvement, primary involvement went from 22 personal injury litigation to asbestos property
23 damage cases? 2 4 A . The shift was in the fall of 1521. From
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1 the period June of 1980 until the fall of 1981, I 2 was generally involved with both. But I was out cn
i 3 maternity leave during the summer of 1981, and upon 4 my return a number of events coalesced and caused me 5 to spend the bulk of my time in the property damage 6 area. 7 Q. By property damage cases, are we referring 8 to cases filed by building owners such as school 9 districts against U.S. Gypsum Company seeking costs 1 0 associated with removal of asbestos-containing 1 1 products? 1 2 A. That's an accurate characterization, 1 3 although at the time, all of the cases were brought 1 4 cn behalf of school districts. 1 5 Q. Initially they were brought by school 1 6 districts a r. 6 later some nonschool districts brought 1 7 similar cases? 1 8 A. Thar's my understanding. That would have 1 9 occurred, I believe, after I no longer had 20 responsibi1ity for the cases. 2 1 Q. And when did that occur? 2 2 A. In August of 1984. 2 3 Q. Now, in connection wit: your duties 2 4 regarding asbestos litigation, both personal injury
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1 and property damage, did you report to Mr. Snell?
2 A. Yes.
"
3 Q. He was your boss?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. Would it be fair to say that you met
6 regularly with him concerning the asbestos cases,
7 often many times a day?
8 A. I met with him as frequently as I felt the
9 situation required and sometimes it was daily or
1 0 several times during the day. Sometimes there would
1 1 be weeks in between.
1 2 Q. Are you familiar with a publication known
1 3 as the Asbestos Litigation Reporter?
1 4 A. Ye s , I am.
1 5 Q. Can you describe generally what the
1 6 Asbestos Litigation Reporter is?
_
1 7 A. It is a publication that comes out every
1 8 two weeks that purports to report on events
1 9 occurring in either the personal injury, the
20 property damage or the asbestos insurance-related
2 1 litigation.
*
22 Q. Did you review the Asbestos Litigation
23 Reporter while you were involved with the personal -
2 4 injury and property damage asbestos cases?
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1 A. Yes.
2 Q. Did you have an occasion in the late 1970s
3 to review the Asbestos Litigation Reporter which
4 reported on what has been generally referred :o as
5 the Sumner Simpson papers? 6 A. 1t was brought to my attention. We were
7 not a subscriber at that time.
8 Q. And did you at the time it was brought to
9 your attention review the publication where it
1 0 reported on the Sumner Simpson papers being located?
1 1 A. If you're asking me did I read the pieces
1 2 of paper that talked about that that were in the
1 3 Asbestos Litigation Reporter, yes, I did. 1 4 Q. Now, my understanding is that Sumner ,,
1 5 Simpson was the president of Raybestos Manhattan,
1 6 back in the 1930s. Is that also your understanding
1 7 a s we 11?
-
1 8 A. Yes?
1 9 Q. And the Sumner papers included both
20 documents allegedly created by him and documents 2 1 allegedly created by one Vandiver Brown of Johns ~
2 2 Manville, is that correct?
2 3 A . Yes.
-
2 4 Q Now, included in that list -- strike th
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11
1 Did you have an opportunity at that time to review a
A
2 memorandum of agreement dated November 2C, 1936
3 printed in the Asbestos Litigation Fe porter?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. I show you a copy of this document and ask
6 if that is a copy of the memorandum of agreement
7 that you reviewed in the late 1970s in the Asbestos
8 Litigation Reporter?
9 A. I'm sorry, I started reading. What was
1 0 thequestion?
.
1 1 MR. SPEIGHTS: Read it back, please.
1 2 (WHEREUPON, the record was read
1 3 by the reporter as requested.)
1 4 MR. CALE: Is the question whether the text -is
1 5 the same or whether this is actually the copy as' it
1 6 appeared in the Litigation Reporter?
1 7 MR. SPEIGHTS: My understanding is nothing
1 8 appears exactly as is in the Asbestos Litigation
1 9 Reporter because they have smaller print and tnev --
20 but is this the text?
.
2 1 BY THE WITNESS:
*
2 2 A. This is the text, and I believe the
23 notations that are on these pieces of paper would J
2 4 not have appeared.
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1 BY MR. SPEIGHTS:
2 Q. And which notations are you referring to?
3 A. There is a number in the upper righthand
4 corner 2-14, in the lower righthand corner, there
5 are various initials and numbers and the pages seem 6 to be identified as A, B and C. Each of the pages
7 bears what appears to be a Bates number stamp. 8 Q. Except for that, she text of this would.be
9 identical to what you read in the Asbestos
1 0 Litigation Reporter?
1 1 A. It conforms to my recollection, yes.
1 2 MR. SPEIGHTS: I would ask this document 1 3 previously marked as plaintiff's Exhibit 214 be
1 4 marked as an exhibit to this deposition as
1 5 Plaintiff's Exhibit 1 .
1 6 (WHEREUPON, said document was marked
1 7 Plaintiff's Deposition Exnibit No. 1, 1 8 for identification, as of 7-29-86.)
1 9 (WHEREUPON, discussion was had 20 off the record.)
2 1 MR. CALE: Let the record reflect that the 22 document that has now been marked as Plaintiff's
23 Exhibit No. 1 is not a copy of the memorandum of 24 agreement as it ap* p" eared in the Asbestos L-itiaatiorn
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13
1 Reporter but, rather, a document obtained at some
2 other place at some other time.
3 But we agree that the text of Exhibit 1
4 conforms to the text of the memorandum of agreement
5 as it appeared in the litigation reporter. Is that
6 correct?
7 MR. SPEIGHTS: That's correct. And to avoid
8 any confusion, I will later forward counsel a copy
9 of the one that actually appeared in the Asbestos
1 0 Litigation Reporter, and we can discuss perhaps a
1 1 substitution of that copy for this copy.
1 2 MR. CALE: That would be perfectly agreeable.
1 3 BY MR. SPEIGHTS:
1 4 Q. Ms. Torrey, would you agree with me that
1 5 the memorandum of agreement reflects that it was'
1 6 executed on behalf of United States Gypsum Company
1 7 by a Mr. Shaver, secretary-treasurer?
-
1 8 A. That's what appears to be on that piece of
1 9 paper, yes.
20 Q. Would you agree with me that the agreement
2 1 reflects that those people who signed the agreement
2 2 agreed to fund certain animal experiments wif.i
23 asbestos dust to be performed by Dr. LeRoy Gardner-*
24 at Saranac Lake Laboratory in New Yarn?
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14
1 MR. CALE: I'm going to object to that question
f
2 only insofar as it is not all-inclusive. Obviously,
3 the memorandum of agreement first of all says that
4 it is pursuant to a meeting of brake lining
5 manufacturers of which U.S. Gypsum was never a brake
6 lining manufacturer. 7 It says that it is to be a three-year 8 study and a lot of other things which obviously we
9 think are material and important/ and I object to a
1 0 question that only focuses on a few of the
1 1 attributes that perhaps are obviously of interest to
1 2 you.
1 3 If we can, perhaps let the document speak 1 4 for itself or in some other way try to get at what
1 5 you would like to have the witness testify to. B"t
1 6 I would not want to have an incorrect or incomplete
1 7 characterization of the document in a deposition
1 8 form where you would simply ask her to agree to it
1 9 unless you then want me on crossing into the other
20 aspects of it. I would be willing to work that any
2 1 wayyouthinkisreasonable.
*
22 MR. SPEIGHTS: I will be glad to rephrase the
2 3 question but I think you may have to go back and -
24 cross to try to clarify whatever points you need ;o
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1 clarify.
2 BY MR. SPEIGHTS:
3 Q. Ms. Torrey, would you agree with me that
4 the memorandum of agreement, among other things,
5 provides that the sponsors will fund certain animal
6 experiments with asbestos dust to be performed by
7 Dr. LeRoy Gardner of Saranac Lake, New York?
8
A. The document on its face says "The
9 undersigned hereby agree to underwrite certain
1 0 experiments with asbestos dust to be conducted by
1 1 Dr. LeRoy U. Gardner at the Saranac Laboratories,
1 2 Saranac Lake, New York."
1 3 I don't see a reference to animal
1 4 expe riments.
15
Q. Were there other references in the
'
1 6 Asbestos Litigation Reporter which reflected that
1 7 tnese were in fact animal studies to be performed by
1 8 Dr. Gardner?
1 9 A. At any time or at the same time? In the
20 Litigation Reporter?
.
2 1 Q. During the period in the late 1970s, did
22 the Asbestos Litigation Reporter actually publish
2 3 three progress reports conducted pursuant to this '
24 agreement which reflected that they were in fact r
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1 animal experiments?
2 A. There was published in Asbestos Litigation
3 Reporter to my recollection three progress reports
4 all of animal experiment work with asbestos done at
. 5 Saranac Lake Laboratories by Dr. Gardner.
6 Whether those documents reflect in the
7 reporter that it was the result of the memorandum of
8 agreement, I simply don't recall one way or the -
9 other. I don't recall the specific recording of the 1 0 three progress reports and whether or not they .
1 1 referenced back to the memorandum of agreement.
1 2 Q. I understand. From your review of the
1 3 various progress reports and the other
1 4 correspondence produced in connection with the
1 5 Sumner Simpson papers and from your review of '
1 6 various U.S. Gypsum Company documents and/or
1 7 documents of the law firm which represented U . S .
1 8 Gypsum over the years, would you agree with me that
1 9 this agreement funded experiments with animal -
20 experiments with asbestos dust and animals? Do we
2 1 have any dispute about that, Ms. Tcrrey?
^
22 A. I'm having trouble with the way you're
23 wording the question.
2 4 Q. Let me try it again.
17
1 A. Thank you.
2 Q. I'm asking you now, in 1986, would you
3 agree with me from your review of various documents
4 since you first saw the memorandum of agreement,
5 that the memorandum of agreement did in fact fund 6 experiments with asbestos dust on animals?
7 MR. CALE: Let's go off the record for a moment
8
(WHEREUPON, discussion was had
-
9 off the record between the witness r m
10
and Mr. Cale, out of the
.
1 1 hearing of other counsel and the
1 2 court reporter.)
1 3 MR. SPEIGHTS: Let me rephrase the question.
1 4 MR. CALE: Why don't you do that.
-
1 5 BY MR. SPEIGHTS:
'
1 6 Q. Ms. Tcrrey, would you agree with me that
1 7 the experiments with asbestos dust to be conducted
1 8 by Dr. Gardner referred to in Plaintiff's Exhibit 1,
1 9 the memorandum of agreement, included animal
20 experiments? 2 1 A. Yes, as I now know today.
. *
22 Q. As you now know today?
2 3 A . Ye s .
-
2 4 Q. Now, upon reviewing the memorandum of
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1 agreement, did you discuss it with Mr. Snell?
2 A . I brought it to his attention sometime
3 after it was brought to my attention.
4 Q. Was Mr. Shaver in fact secretary-treasurer
5 of U . S . Gypsum Company back during that period of
6 t i me ?
7 A . That's my understanding, yes.
8 Q. And was Mr. Shaver later either Chairman
9 of the Board or President of U. Sr. Gypsum Company?
1 0 A. Yes.
.
1 1 Q . And at that time, did Mr. Shaver still 1 2 maintain an office at the corporate headquarters at
1 3 101 South Wacker, albeit he was retired?
1 4 A. I'm sorry, at what time?
15
Q. At the time that you first saw the
'
1 6 memorandum of agreement and the time you discussed
1 7 it with M r . S n e 11 .
-
1 8 A. And the question is did he maintain an
1 9 office
20 Q. Did Mr. Shaver still maintain an office, at 2 1 101 South Wacker at that time?
2 2 A . I believe he had the use of an office here.
23 W nether that's maintaining an office, I'm net surer
* 2 4 Q. Would it be a fair statement to say tha*
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1 the memorandum of agreement that you read in the 2 Asbestos Litigation Reporter and shared with Mr.
3 Snell was of interest to you and Mr. Snell?
4 MR. CALE: I think you can go ahead and answer
5 that one .
6 BY THE WITNESS:
7 A. Yes.
8 BY MR. SPEIGHTS:
-
9 Q. Was any attempt made to interview Mr. 1 0 Shaver to determine whether that was his signature
1 1 on the memorandum of agreement?
1 2 MR. CALE: I'm going to object to that question
1 3 so we have a record here to the extent that any
1 4 knowledge that the witness has is based on hearsay
1 5 or the activities of other people.
1 6 BY MR. SPEIGHTS:
..
1 7 Q. Did you subsequently have a conversation
1 8 with Mr. Snell, vice president of U.S. Gypsum
1 9 Company, concerning an interview he had with Mr.
20 Shaver?
2 1 A Yes 2 2 Q Did Mr. Snell advise you that Mr. Shaver 2 3 stated that the signature or. the memorandum of
2 - agreement appeared to be his?
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1 A. Yes.
2 Q. Did that interview occur during that
3 general period of time 1979 to 1980?
4 A. Yes. I was also informed Mr. Shaver had
5 no recollection of the contents of the memorandum of 6 agreement or of the study it purported to fund
7 Q. Did you also become aware that Dr. Gardner
8 prepared a monograph on his study in the year 1943?
9 A. I'm sorry, what's the question? 1 0 Q. Did you become aware that Dr. Gardner
1 1 published a monograph concerning his experiments,
1 2 animal experiments with asbestos dust in 1943?
1 3 A. No .
1 4 Q. Have you ever seen a copy of Dr. Gardner's
1 5 1 9 4 3 monog raph? 1 6 A . No .
1 7 Q. Has anyone advise a you that Dr. Gardner 1 8 found in his an imal expe rim ents that certain animals 1 9 subject to t h e expe riments with asbestos dust were
20 dying of lung cance r ? 2 1 A . No .
22 Q . And that is true even today? 23 A . Tha * c correct.
-
2 4 Q. Did you aatend t h e Lexington trial in ,
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21
1 April of 1984?
2 A. Yes.
3 Q. Ms. Torrey, shortly after you read the
4 memorandum of agreement in the Asbestos Litigation
5 Reporter, my understanding is that Donna Woodruff, a
6 paralegal working for you, located some documents at
7 1 C1 South Wacker, is that correct?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. Do you recall when that was that she
1 0 located these documents?
1 1 A. She was working on a project for me to
1 2 gather some old releases unrelated to asbestos just
1 3 for general product liability questions, and in
1 4 January of 1980 came upon some boxes.
1 5 Q. Where were those documents or those boxes
1 6 found?
...
1 7 A. She informed me chat she found them in a
1 8 room located adjacent to the file room.
1 9 Q. And, again, that would have been at the
20 corporate headquarters at 101 South Wacker?
,
2 1 A. That's correct.
*
2 2 Q. And at that time, was your office located
2 3 at 101 South Packer? 24 A. Yes .
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1 Q. And was Mr. Snell's office located at 101 A
2 South Wacker?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. Did Ms. Woodruff bring you any docurents
5 from the box or boxes she located?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. Did you ever go down to the storage room
8 and review the boxes themselves in the storage room?
9 A. No.
^
1 0 Q. Now, I understand that Ms. Woodruff
1 1 brought you at least three documents, would you
1 2 agree with that?
1 3 A. Yes, in the manila folders in which she
1 4 found them.
-
1 5 Q. I show you a copy of what previously has
1 6 been marked Plaintiff's Exhibit 20 and on another,
1 7 copy Plaintiff's Exhibit 1694 and ask if that isone
1 8 of the documents which she brought to you?
1 9 A. It conforms to my recollection.
20 MR. SPEIGHTS: I would ask that be marked as.
2 1 Plaintiff's Exhibit 2.
~
2 2 (WHEREUPON, said document was marked
23 Plaintiff's Deposition Exhibit No. 2,
2 4 for identification, as of 7-29-86..'
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23
1 BY MR. SPEIGHTS:
A
2 Q. Ms. Torrey, Plaintiff's Exhibit 2 is a
3 letter from Vandiver Brown to J.S. Offut, and across
4 the top it reflects Johns-Manv i 11e Corporation with
5 the New York address.
6 Is this the Vandiver Brown or at least the
7 same name Vandiver Brown that we referred to earlier
8 as being general attorney for Johns-Manville
-
9 Corporation?
1 0 MR. CALE: Before the witness answers, I have
1 1 to object to your characterization of what this
1 2 document is.
1 3 As the document shows, it is a copy
1 4 obviously typed on someone's typewriter, not on the
1 5 letterhead stationery of Johns-Manville Corporation,
1 6 and it appears at least to me to be some typist's,
1 7 rendition made with a typewriter of some document
1 8 that we do not have.
1 9 If you v;ill agree with that
20 characterization as opposed to the one that I think
2 1 you gave which is this is a copy of a letter, which
22 suggests that it's on original stationery, I think
2 3 she can answer the question or have it speak for -
24 itself.
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24
1 MR. SPEIGHTS: I'll choose none of those three. 2 a Ite r native s . 3 BY MR. SPEIGhTS : 4 Q. Ms. Torrey, what is that document. 5 Plaintiff's Exhibit 2? 6 A. I'm not sure how it if you want me to 7 answer that. What do you mean what is it? 8 Q. Would you describe what that document is, 9 please? 1 0 A. This document to me appears to be a typed 1 1 rendition, to use Mr. Cale's word, of a letter. It 1 2 is not the original. It has instead of letterhead 1 3 the name uohns-Manville typed on it. 1 4 It bears the word "Copy" on the top which 1 5 it's my understanding was a commonly used method'cf 1 6 making a copy of a document before there were 1 7 photocopy machines available.
i 8 It is frcm an individual whose name
1 9 appears to be Vandiver Brown identified as general 2 0 attorney. It is addressed to J.S. Offut, assistant 2 1 to the president. United States Gypsum Company wifh 2 2 an address, re Dr. Gardner- asbestos dust experiment, 23 ar.d it reads, "Replying further to yours of April 1-9, 2 4 "937,.I am enclosing herewith copy of Dr. Gardner's
Wtt
cz^oi.e.n&z'iq anJ. c^-j-tLOCUxtzi., One.
Cr.icaao, iJCL-.cls. G (3 7 2) 7 2-80S7
25
1 first progress report dated May 5, 1937."
. t
2 I can only state to you what it says on
3 the letter.
4 Q. Thank you. Now, I next show you this
5 document and ask if this is also one of the
6 documents which you were shown by Ms. Woodruff in
7 early '80?
8 A. It appears to be the same document. I
9 haven't compared it word for word. I would point
1 0 out these are photocopies. The one I had was a ..
1 1 tissue copy.
1 2 That document also bears the word "Copy"
i 3 on the top and, again, I would assume someone has
1 4 retyped that from something else.
~
1 5 MR. SPEIGHTS: I would ask that that document
1 6 be marked as Plaintiff's Exhibit 3.
..
1 7 (WHEREUPON, said document was marked 1 8 Plaintiff's Deposition Exhibit No. 3,
1 9 for identification, as of 7-29-86.)
20 BY MR. SPEIGHTS:
.
2 1 Q. What is the title of that document and f"n e
22 date of it, please?
23
A. It states "First Progress Report on
-
2 4 Asbestosis Experiments at the Saranac Laboratory , ^
^IVoZfe., <z/^otzn(jz%q anA ezrJ-iiocLatzi,, Qic.
dhicaQO, dJ[[inoLt
(312) 7B2-~ Z'S7
1 May 5, 1937."
2 Q. Now, is it my understanding that the
3 copies which Ms. Woodruff showed you of Plaintiff's
4 Exhibit 2, the letter from Vandiver Brown to J.S.
5 Offutt and Plaintiff's Exhibit 3, the first progress
6 report, were tissue copies?
7 A. Correct.
8 Q. Next I'm going to show you a document Q which has been previously marked^as 1693 and ask if
1 0 you can identify -- I'm not asking for a description
11 yet, but just if you recognize that document?
1 2 A. I have seen this document.
1 3 MR. SPEIGHTS: I'm going to ask that be marked
1 4 as Plaintiff's Exhibit 4, letter from J.S. Offutt- to
1 5 G.G. King dated May 5, 1937.
1 6 (WHEREUPON, said document was marked
1 7 Plaintiff's Deposition Exhibit No.- 4,
1 8 for identification, as of 7-29-86.)
1 9 BY MR. SPEIGHTS:
2 0 Q You are awa re, Ms . To r r e y, that Mr. Smifh 2 1 has testi f i ed that this docu m e n t w a s also located "`To v
2 2 Ms. W o o d r uf f in 19 8 0?
23 A . I haven 1 t read Mr . Smith ' s c e p o sition in-
24 some time . I don' t know i f that's what h e testified
Rlotfz, eZ.RotLn
anJ. cRj-iioeLatoi., jjnc.
Cr.Lc.aao, CJttinoLi ft (312) 7S2-BCB7
1 to or not. 2 Q. As I understand your recollection, you ,
3 don't know whether this document was located in 1980
4 or 1984?
5 A. That's correct.
6 Q. Okay. Would you describe this document to
7 me, please?
8 A. It is a letter from J.S. Offutt identified
9 as assistant to the president, addressed to Mr. G .D . 1 0 King, research manager, B.M.R. Laboratories, Chicago,
1 1 attention Mr. C.C. Scheutz.
1 2 Do you want me to read the body of the
i 3 le tter?
1 4 Q. If you would.
,,
1 5 A. "The Saranac Laboratory of Saranac, New
1 6 York is making a three-year study of asbestosis. '
1 7 They are investigating in particular the effect o.n
1 3 guinea pigs of breathing asbestos dust.
1 9 We understand that the dust being used is
20 composed of pure fibrous asbestos free from all
2 1 serpentine rock and other foreign particles, grourtd 22 as fine as possible anc then ball milled. it is
2 3 supplied by J o h n s-M a n v 111 e from their Canadian rr.ine-s
24 in the Danville section of she province of Quebec.
c:f\0 tz.n&L'Uj and
iiociazzi, JOne.
dnicaac OilLnoLt (212) 72-S ^ 7
28
1
In order that we can interpret results
.
A
2 obtained, we would appreciate your advising us if
3 the various types of asbestos we use would vary in
4 chemical composition or physical characterstics when
5 ground and ball milled from the Johns-Manville
6 asbestos being used in this investigation."
7 Q. And that letter, I believe, is on United
8 States Gypsum Company letterhead?
-
9 A. Yes. It also has the typed c.c.s on here,
1 0 and I seem to recall that other copies I have seen
1 1 had a check mark by the c.c., and there are file
1 2 notations on there inconsistent with United States
1 3 Gypsum Company filing systems.
1 4 Q. I next show you a document which has been
1 5 previously marked Plaintiff's Exhibit 1698 and ask
1 6 if that is one of the documents which Ms. Woodruff
1 7 shewed you in early 198C?
-
1 8 A. Again, without reading it through word by
1 9 word, it is a report of dust survey at National
20 Asbestos Company plant of United States Gypsum Cc.
2 i at Jersey City, New Jersey, and I assume it is whrft
22 we have been referring to as the Jersey City study
2 3 and that was shown tc me by Donna Woodruff in 1 9 8 0.-
2 4 MR. SPEIGHTS: I ask that be marked as y
^Votjc, cz/x>oicn-rzrj and <^rJ-*tocLat.i, fjne.
(2hicac o, J[LinoLi O (312) 762-60S7
29
1 Plaintiff's Exhibit 5.
A
2 (WHEREUPON, said document was marked
3 Plaintiff's Deposition Exhibit No. 5,
4 for identification, as of 7-29-86.)
5 BY MR. SPEIGHTS:
6 Q. What is the date of the Jersey City study,
7 Ms. To r rey? 8 A. It states, made by the Saranac laboratory
9 May 25 through June 2, 1936. Re^ceived July 31, 1936.
1 0 I notice stapled to this are some other
1 1 materials that are not the Jersey City study.
1 2 MR. SPEIGHTS: Let's delete those.
1 3 MR. CALE: Sure.
14
MR. SPEIGHTS: Let's go off the record.
15
(WHEREUPON, discussion was had
'
16
off the record.)
.
1 7 BY MR. SPEIGHTS: 1 8 Q. Ms. Torrey, would you agree with me that
1 9 this study reflects a study by Dr. Gardner in 1935
20 of a plant formerly owned by National Asbestos .
2 1 Company, the assets of which were purchased by ~
22 United States Gypsum Company?
2 3 A. Ye s . 2 4 Q. Did Dr. Gardner find --
' v
dVofrc, <dx>oi.e.n(jczj and cdf-iiLOciaiti., O'-z-
Cfiia-jo, tJiLk'-.oii c (312) 7E3-F3ST
30
1 A. Excuse me. Some of the assets of which . t
2 were purchased. I don't know if it was all of the
3 assets .
4 Q. Did Dr. Gardner report in this study that
5 there were cases of asbestosis at this plant?
6 A. I haven't read that study in a long time.
7 If you want, I'm going to have to read it and find
8 it. If you want to point it out to me, I can agree o with you that that's what it says in there.
1 0 Q. Let me do it this way. I'm going to show
1 1 you another document previously marked as
1 2 Plaintiff's Exhibit 1697 and ask if you are familiar
1 3 with that document?
1 4 A. I have seen this document.
..
1 5 MR. SPEIGHTS: I'm going to ask that be marked
1 6 as Plaintiff's Exhibit No. 6.
...
1 7 (WHEREUPON, said document was marked
1 8 Plaintiff's Deposition Exhibit No. 6,
1 9 for identification, as of 7-29-86.)
20 BY MR. SPEIGHTS:
2 1 Q. I'm going to show you another document riot
22 previously marked and ask if you are familiar with
2 3 That document?
-
2 4 A. I'm familiar generally with the contents
^WoCfe., tzf^oi.cn&E.xcj and
Latz.*, [}n.c..
dnlzaao, dJ[[incli (312) 7E2-8CS7
31
1 of the letter. Whether or not I heve in fact seen A
2 the letter before, I don't know.
3 MR. SPEIGHTS: I'm going to ask that that
4 letter be marked as Plaintiff's Exhibit 7.
5 (WHEREUPON, said document was marked
6 Plaintiff's Deposition Exhibit No. 7,
7 for identification, as of 7-29-86.)
8 BY MR. SPEIGHTS:
9 Q. Now, to review where we are on the Jersey
1 0 City report, Exhibit 5 is the Jersey City report,
1 1 itself prepared by Dr. Gardner which was shown to
1 2 you by Ms. Woodruff in 1980?
1 3 A. Correct.
1 4 Q. Exhibit 6 is a letter from General Service
5 Manager, who I believe everyone agrees was Mr.
1 6 Parrish at that time, to W.L. Ready, cf August 13.,
1 7 1936 which summarizes that report?
-
1 8 A. It in part appears to summarize the report.
1 9 Q. And Plaintiff's Exhibit 7, a letter from
20 Mr. Par r i sl tc the law firm o f Scott MacLeisb & Fa 1k
2 1 dated A ug u s t 17, 1936, forwards a copy of the
~
2 2 s umma rv and reoort to that 1 a w firm?
2 3 A. In part, it forwards a copy of that, yes r
2 4 Q. And also comments on the report itself?r
nioffc,
i.zn&zig and
(2h.Lc.aao, <MincU (312) 762-808 ~
, dJnc.
33
1 not possible from their findings to establish the
2 maximum safe concentration of asbestos dust in the
3 air."
4 Q. To review because I may have confused the
5 record, what you acknowledge that Ms. Woodruff
6 showed you in early 1980 was the letter from
7 Vandiver Brown to J.S. Offutt, the first progress
8 report on asbestosis experiments at the Saranac 9 laboratory and the Jersey City report, those three
1 0 documents having been marked as Plaintiff's Exhibits
1 1 2, 3 and 5 ?
1 2 A. Thao's correct.
1 3 Q. Now, when you reviewed the documents, did
1 4 you discuss them with Mr. Snell or shortly
-
1 5 thereafter?
1 6 A. I shewed them to him. I don't know if .we
1 7 discussed them as such.
1 8 Q. You don't know whether you discussed the
1 S details with him but you certainly discussed the
20 fact that the documents had been located with him?
2 1 A. 1 would characterize it that I brought Co
22 his attention that I had been shown these documents.
Ii
23
Q. And you showed him the documents?
-
2 4 A. That's correct.
,'
WMa
Cn/.h..c,a&c r'ff
and cyfyiiocLatzi, fJnc. . (3:2; 7t2-eos7
32
1 A. I'm not sure if comments on the report is
t
2 an accurate characterization, but I won't argue with
3 i t.
4 Q. Now, would you read for me the first two
5 paragraphs on the letter to Mr. Ready summarizing in 6 part the Jersey City report?
7 A. The first two paragraphs?
8 Q . Yes.
9 A. "We have a comprehensive report of dust
1 0 conditions in our Jersey City plant and a report on
1 1 the x-rays of the employees examined at that plant
1 2 by Dr. Gardner's organization. 1 3 In brief, the findings are:
1 4 1. Diagnosis of asbestosis for five
1 5 men.
.
1 6 2. Possibly five additional men have
1 7 asbestosis but necessary to . 1 8 confirm by clinical correlation.
1 9 3. Serious asbestos dust hazard 20 under present operations."
2 1 Q. Now, I'm going to refer beck to t r. e rep or t
2 2 itself which Ms. Woodruff showed you in 1930 and ask i
23 you to read on page 4 the next to the Iasi paragra pui . ; 2 4 A. "The authors of the reoort conclude it is
and c^dJ-iLonLatE-i, dJnc.
dk.icaao, dikinoii (3121 762-80S7
34
1
Q. And that was sometime in early 1980?
.
t
2 A. Yes.
3 Q. I understand Mr. Snell made a decision
4 concerning these documents at that time, is that
5 correct?
6 A. Are you going to to ask me what the
7 decision is? Otherwise, I can't answer your
8 question exactly the way you've posed it.
9 Q. On that occasion in early 1980, did Mr.
1 0 Snell make a decision that these documents would ..not
1 1 be produced or revealed in response to discovery in
1 2 the asbestos cases?
1 3 A. Mr. Snell made a determination -- strike i
1 4 that. Mr. Snell made a decision that United States
1 5 Gypsum Company would respond in discovery to the-
1 6 extent of documents which were United States Gyps.um
1 7 Company documents and, therefore, were deemed
-
1 8 verified.or with respect no information learned from
1 9 current or former United States Gypsum Company
20 employees.
.
2 1 It was his opinion upon review of these *
22 documents that none of these three documents were
23 United States Gypsum Company documents maintained f-n I ?I
24 the ordinary course of business by United States ,,
j
QVotfz, <zJ^oizn(-rE.%j and czdj-itoaLatit,
(^fiCcajo,
(312) 782-808?
35
1 Gypsum Company and, further, that in his opinion, . A
2 they were documents of the Keck law firm.
Since these were not United States Gypsum
4 Company documents, they were not responsive to
5 discovery requests in asbestos litigation.
K I think to make the answer complete, I
7 should also point cut that the question of verifying
8 was the critical issue and that an attempt was made
9 to verify the information contained in these
1 0 documents through United States Gypsum Company
1 1 sources, either through documents that were J-.ited
1 2 States Gypsum Company documents or through current
1 3 or former United States Gypsum Company employees.
1 4 And in that regard, we undertook a rather
1 5 extensive search for information from, which to
1 6 verify the contents of these three documents.
..
1 7 Q. Ms. Tcrrey, because you are a lawyer, I
1 8 think you have moved to my second and third
1 9 questions, and my first question was simply was Mr.
20 Snell's bottom line decision that these documents.,
2 1 absent something else, would not be produced in *
22 response to discovery in the personal injury or
2 3 property damage litigation?
'
2 4 A. I can't characterize it that way. It w ~ s
W#AfA <1! '4=,
is.nOs.TC] and
(2flica4o, fJ-LlnoLt Q (312) 7(2-8087
{Jnc.
36
1
his judgment that the documents responsive to .
.
t
2 discovery would be United States Gypsum Company
3 documents, and it was his opinion that these die not
4 fall in that category. Therefore, they were not
5 produced.
6 Q. As a result of that meeting with Mr. Snell
7 was it understood that these documents. Plaintiff's
8 Exhibits 2, 3 and 5, would not be produced in
-
9 response to discovery m the asbestos litigation
1 0 absent some ocher documentation?
.
1 1 A. What was the first part of that question?
1 2 MR. SPEIGHTS: Read it back, please.
1 3 (WHEREUPON, the record was read
14
by the reporter as requested.)
-
1 5 BY THE WITNESS:
1 6 A. I'm sorry. The only way I can state i
1 7 Mr. Speights, is that to the extent anything was
1 8 unde r stood at that time, what was understood
1 9 that in Mr. Snell's j udgment, the documents
2 0 were required to be produced in t he asbestos
2 1 litigation were United States Gypsum Company
2 2 documents or information acquired from current o
23 former United Spates Gypsum Company employee?.. 24 t-
WiftfA
czffotcnrs.zcj anA
Clic
ntr
J-,' Lit
n
c
l.
L
f ? * 2' '70-8r)87
, jjr.
37
1 were not United States Gypsum Company documents. . A
2 Therefore, they were not produced absent other
3 verification . 4 BY MR. SPEIGHTS: 5 Q. And that's the case even though -- let's
6 take them in order. Exhibit 2 was a copy of a 7 letter from Mr. Brown of Johns-Manville to Mr. 8 Offutt, assistant tc the president of U.S. Gypsum-
9 Company; that is, the letter itself was not a letter
1 0 to or from any U.S. Gypsum attorney?
...
1 1 A. There is no U.S. Gypsum attorney on that
1 2 letter, that's correct.
1 3 Q . And the copy of the first progress report
1 4 of May 5, 1937, Exhibit 3 , wa s an attach it. ent to that
1 5 letter to Mr. Of futt of U.S. Gypsum Company?
1 6 A . Yes, and it b ears t he file notation of...the
1 7 Keck firm.
-
1 8 Q. A handwritten note in the upper righthand
1 9 corner?
2 0 A. That's correc t , and it came out of a file 2 1 that bore the same not a t i o n . 22 Q And Exhibit 5 , the Jersey Ciuv study, 23 bears no mention thereon of any U.S. Gypsum lawyer? 2 4 A. Thau's my recollection . I would have tp
iLnfjz-uj cmJ. crfi.toc.UiiE.i-, {Jnc.
C.fiiza.qo, fJliinCi i 0 (312) ?'S2-8CS?
38
1 again, read it word for word to verify it, but 2 that's my recollection.
r
3 Q. And indeed, the other correspondence would
4 reflect that the law firm got its copy of this study
5 from U.S. Gypsum?
6 A. But I didn't have that correspondence at
7 the time in the 1980 time frame.
8 Q. I understand that. But we now know that
9 the copy of this study given to the law firm came
1 0 from U.S. Gypsum, correct?
1 1 A. That's what the correspondence would
1 2 appear to suggest.
1 3 Q. Ms. Torrey, was this Mr. Snell's decision
1 4 or your decision?
-
1 5 A. Mr. Snell's decision, to the extent: that,
1 6 again, I have characterised it as a judgment and..an
1 7 opinion.
-
1 8 Q. It was Mr. Snell's judgment and opinion?
1 9 A. Yes, sir.
20
Q. You would agree with me that these
.
2 1 documents reflect on their face that somebody in the
2 2 company had notice, somebody in the ccrporate
23 structure, had notice of the things contained in ^ the
2 4 documents?
_
WM <Woi
Chicr.ao,
and cdfiSuDciatzi, fJnc.
e (2'2) 7<22-B27
39
1 A. I would agree with that statement today. A
2 I don't think I would have agreed with it in 1980.
3 Q. You would agree with me that if one of my
4 clients had documents in their files, they could not
5 legitimately protect them from discovery simply by
6 giving them to me as their attorney?
7 MR. CALE : I'm going to object to that question
8 and instruct her not to answer. I think that
-
9 ciearlv is calling for her judgment as an attorney
1 0 to either agree with you or disagree with you as an
1 1 attorney as to what you might or might not opine to
1 2 a client.
1 3 BY MR. SPEIGHTS:
1 4 Q. From the time you met with Mr. Snell in
1 5 early 1980 until the time you ceased working on
1 6 asbestos cases on August 20, '84, to your knowledge,
1 7 did O.S. Gypsum Company ever produce any one of
1 8 these three documents in any asbestos lawsuit.
1 9 eithe r personal injury or property damage?
20 A. The r e was a word missing in your que sti.on .
2 1 I assume you mean produced to any plaintiff?
-
22 Q. Yes.
23 A. That1 s correct. I'm not aware th a t anv erf 24 those three doc umeats were ever or oduced du rin q " na -
zra and cOJ-iiocLabzi, Or.
Ck Ica-qo, HttinoU C {312) ?2-5Q8y
40
1 time f rame. 2 MR. CALE: Off the record.
r
3 (WHEREUFON, discussion was had
4 off the record.)
5 (WHEREUPON, a recess was had.)
6 BY MR. SPEIGHTS:
7 Q. Ms. Torrey, I understand one of the
8 justifications for not giving or providing copies of
9 those documents in discovery in , 1 9 8 0 was that you,
1 0 that is, the company wanted to conduct in your words
1 1 an extensive investigation to see what if any
1 2 confirming documents might exist?
1 3 A. That's correct.
1 4 Q. Now, as I understand the position of U ,, S .
1 5 Gypsum Company today, you believe that the documents,
1 6 these later documents I referred to, such as the..
1 7 Parrish letter and the letter to Mr. Ready, were
1 8 actually part or contained in the boxes found by Ms.
1 9 Woodruff in 1980, is that correct?
2 0 A. You have been provided with some memoranda
2 1 that Donna Woodruff wrote me, the reasonable
A
22 inference from which is that these -- the three Keck
2 3 boxes were found by her in 1980. Does that answer J
24 vcur question?
r
0- Voifc.,
iznljc-iq one <zrj-i.icc.LaUi, {Jrc.
dnicaao,
r212
41
1 Q Yes . And, of course. Plaintiff's Exhibit
2 7 -- excuse me, Plaintiff's Exhibit 6, a letter to
3 Mr. Ready summarizing the Jersey City report, and
4 Plaintiff's Exhibit 7, the letter from Mr. Parrish
5 forwarding the Ready letter on the Jersey City
6 report to the Reck firm were found in those boxes,
7 later found in those boxes?
8 A. Yes, but I was not aware of them being in
9 those boxes until 1984.
, r'
1 0 Q. I understand that. My question is, in
1 1 your extensive search or investigation, did you ever
1 2 go through the boxes which Ms. Woodruff found in
1 3 1980?
1 4 A. No, because I don't know what boxes --at
1 5 that time, I did not know what boxes she had found
1 6 when we tried to go back through. I knew that she
1 7 had found one box, the so-called department 198
1 8 silicosis box, which was transferred to the legal
1 9 department at about the time she discovered it.
20 She discovered that box at the same time 2 1 that I now know she discovered the other three. '
2 2 That box has been continuously maintained in the
23 legal department since approximately January, 1 9 8 0 2 4 That box bears the notation box 1 of 2.
driitaQO, iJitincii ^ (212) 7''c2-B0S
42
1 When we tried to go back and find box 2 of
2 2, which I always assumed was the box out of which
3 these materials had come., we couldn't find box 2 of
4 2.
5 Q. Well, let's clarify th ;t because I d~ n ' t
6 want the record to be confused.
7 One box which Ms. Wocdruff found which was
8 not a law firm box was taken to the legal department?
9 A. Correct.
v
1 0 Q. And you don't know whether these three
1 1 documents we have been referring to were from that
1 2 box or the other three boxes? You don't know
1 3 whether Plaintiff's Exhibits 5, 2 and 3 came from
1 4 that box or some other box or boxes?
1 5 A. During the period sometime in the summer
1 6 of 1980, vhnich was after Donna Woodruff had left,us,
1 7 through the perica 1984, I had a reco1lection that
1 8 Donna had found t w o boxe s , had one of t hem in the
1 9 depart me nt .
20 It bore a label that said box 1 of 2 fr.om
2 1 w h i c h I could inf e r there was a second be x . W e * 2 2 never could find that second box. It was not until
2 3 1 9 8 4 that I knew of the existence of the chree
-
so-called Keck boxes. It was not until recently ,
dfiicaQO, iJCCmo is e (3*2' 7S2 ~oe~
43
1 when the three Woodruff memoranda were located that A
2 I know or became aware of the fact that tne three
3 boxes found in 1984 were the same three boxes
4 :pparently -- were the same boxes that Donna had
5 found in 1980.
6 Q. I'm afraid we're getting ahead of
7 ourselves. I'm going to ask you about 1984 in
8 awhile. But I want to try to focus our attention.on
9 1960.
'
1 0 In 1980, Ms. Woodruff located among other
1 1 things one box which was transferred to the legal
1 2 department?
1 3 A . That's correct.
1 4 Q. Okay. Additionally, Ms. Woodruff sent,.you
1 5 a memorandum in 1980 which reflected that she 1 6 located three boxes of documents, correct?
17
A. May I see which memorandum you're
.
1 8 referring to? This memorandum suggests she found
1 9 three bores in 1980.
20 MR. SPEIGHTS: I am going to ask that be marked
2 1 c~. 0
ju
2 2 (WHEREUPON, said document was marked
2 3 Plaintiff's Deposition Exhicit No. 3-, 2 4 for identification, as of "-29-55.)
^Wotfz, ccfi^oi.e.n.&z'uj and c^rj-izociatEi., One.
Chi.za.qo, OLiinoii
(2 " 2] 122-2021
44
1 BY MR. SPEIGHTS: 2 Q. Now my question is, first, in your
t
3 extensive search to see whether there were
4 confirming documents, for whatever reason, you did
5 not nor do you know of anyone who went through the
6 three boxes referred to in Plaintiff's Exhibit 8
7 until 1984?
8 A. That's correct.
9 Q. In addition, in your extensive search for
1 0 several years, no one thoroughly went through the
1 1 box which Ms. Woodruff brought to the legal
1 2 department?
1 3 A. Yes.
1 4 Q. Yes, that's correct?
.
1 5 A. Yes, that's correct.
16
Q. Now, we are still in1 9 8 0 .
Ithink we'.,
1 7 have gone through Ms. Woodruff'sdiscovery. I -
1 8 believe in 1980 also that the first lawsuit was
1 9 filed against 13.S. Gypsum by building owners
2 0 regarding asbestos-containing materialsin its
.
2 1 building, is that your recollection?
^
2 2 A. The Cinnaminson School District case was
-- filed in 1980.
24
i
Q. Thau was a New Jersey school district? ^
mwA
and c^d-iioc-Latzi., One.
(2fziccLQo, DiL^nolt ft (312) 72-30S^
45
1 A.Correct.
.
2 Q. What was the product at issue in the New
3 Jersey case?
4 A. I have not read that complaint in many
5 years, but I seem to recall that the complaint 6 itself referenced Audicote.
7 Q. That was an acoustical plaster made by
8 United States Gypsum Company in previous years? -
9 A. Correct. 1 0 Q. Was Audicote the most named product in the
1 1 lawsuits against USG, the property damage lawsuits
1 2 against USG during the period you were involved?
1 3 A. Oh, I can't state that because I never did
1 4 a count of the complaints of how many had the word
1 5 Audicote in them.
'
1 6 Q. Audicote was an acoustical plaster sold, by
1 7 U.S. Gypsum sold from sometime in the '50s into 1 8 early 1970s?
1 9 A . Co r rect
2 0 Q . And it was the subject of other lawsuits
2 1 besides the New J ersey lawsuit?
JL.
2 2 A . At some point in time, yes.
2 3 Q. Now, my understanding is that in 2 4 connection with that lawsuit in 1980, you went
\WAiA
<W/*, czf^oiLLnfjzTa cmJ.
C.iicaoo, jJCuncis 0 (312/ 7e2-~?S7
, jr,c.
46
1 the research department and met with at least two . A
2 gentlemen concerning the product Audicote, is that
3 correct?
4 A. That's correct.
5 Q. And on that occasion, did you check out
e the original laboratory files maintained at the
7 research department on Audicote?
8
A. At my request, I was given what I
-
9 understood to be the working fil^es maintained by the
1 0 plasters laboratory relating to Audicote.
.
1 1 y. How many files were there; what size was
1 2 the -- what quantity were given to you?
1 3 A. I recall that the paper was organized into
1 4 files for a size paper eight-and-a-half by eleven
1 5 and that the total volume of file folders would be
1 6 about three quarters of a file drawer.
1 7 Q. Would you agree with me that if you 1 8 stacked them cn top of each other, they would be
1 9 about three feet in height?
2 0 A . That ' s cor rect .
.
2 1 Q Now, these were hard copies, weren't they? 2 2 A . That 1 s cor rect.
23 Q. And m a n y o f them were research reports * 2 4 which were also on microfilm?
0 Vo[fz, <zVx>JZ.nrzxj and t^dzivcLatzi, 0,c.
Chica.no, OtL.in.oiL
(312} 72-8C37
47
1 A That's correc t
2 Q. But the hard copies also included
3 memoranda and handwritten notes which would not he
4 on microfilm, is that correct?
5 A. It is correct that I recall that there
6 would be memoranda and handwritten notes on those
7 files, and it is correct that those materials would
8 not be on microfilm.
9 Q. What did you do with the hard copies of
1 0 these files? 1 1 A. I brought them back to my office.
1 2 Q. And that still was 101 South Wacker?
1 3 A. That's correct.
14
Q. And for some period of time, you
,,
1 5 maintained them in your individual office?
.
1 6 A . That'1 s correct.
1 7 Q Now , let me move to 1981. I believe 1 8 that's when you told me that your prircipal joe 1 9 beginning in 1981 was coordinating U.S. Gypsum's
20 defense to asbestos property damage cases? 2 1 A. Yes, beginning ir. the fall of 1981 cf tee
2 2 my return from maternity leave.
2 3 0. And in than capacity, you continued to '
2 4 reoor: :o Mr. Snell?
'cdz., cL.^otzn
,and czOaocuitzi One.
Cki-uao, OiUr.cii e (3:2} 72-SCS7
48
1 A. That's correct, except for there was a
2 period of time in 1984 when Mr. Leisten was
3 associate general counsel and at that time I
4 formally repotted to him.
5 Q. The following year in 1982, my
6 understanding was you located some internal
7 operating bulletins, is that correct?
8 A. Ye s .
9 Q. Can you tell us what an internal operating
1 0 bulletin is?
1 1 A. Well, let's back up. I knew about
1 2 operating bulletins probably in 1977 or 1978. I did
1 3 not learn of operating bulletins in 1982.
1 4 Q. What are operating bulletins?
1 5 A. Operating bulletins are of numerous types.
1 6 It's a generic term relating to bulletins which are
1 7 historically maintained by the company relating to
1 8 such things as production methods, plant safety,
1 9 plant operations, product formulations, marketing
20 information. I'm forgetting a category.
.
2 1 Q. In any event, they are internal document's
22 within U.S. Gypsum Company?
2 3 A. That's correct.
'
2 4 Q. And I show yon a copy of a memorandum f;on
\W47a <W/2
and adfi.iociats.1, dJnc.
Cf-.L CCLQO, DCCir.oii c (312' 7S2-S0S7
49
1 S.K. Torrey to T.S. Snell dated March 24, '82 and
2 ask if you recognize that document?
3 A. I have seen this document recently.
4 MR. SPEIGHTS: I would ask that be marked as
5 Plaintiff's Exhibit 9.
6 (WHEREUPON, said document was marked
7 Plaintiff's Deposition Exhibit No. 9
8 for identification, as of 7-29-86.)
9 BY MR. SPEIGHTS:
1 0 Q. The document consists of three pages
1 1 Would you agree with me that that document reflects
1 2 that in 1982, you reviewed, among others, operating
1 3 bulletins dated 1943, 1948 and 1954?
1 4 MR. CALE: Can we take a minute?
1 5 MR. SPEIGHTS: Sure.
'
1 6 (WHEREUPON, discussion was had
1 7 off the record between the witness
1 8 and Mr. Cale, out of the
1 9 hearinc of other counsel and the
20 court reporter.)
2 1 MR. CALE: Okay.
2 2 3 Y THE WITNESS:
23 A. Can you read the question back, please?
24
(WHEREUPON
record w
r e aa
50
1 by the reporter as requested.) 2 BY THE WITNESS: 3 A. Yes. 4 BY MR. SPEIGHTS: 5 Q. I show you a two-page operating bulletin 6 dated August 24, 1943, No. 2-5 and ask you if that 7 is the '43 bulletin referred to in that memorandum? 8 A. Yes. 9 MR. SPEIGHTS: I would ask. r'that be marked as 1 0 Plaintiff's Exhibit 10, consisting of two pages, 1 1 operating bulletin. 1 2 (WHEREUPON, said document was marked 1 3 Plaintiff's Deposition Exhibit No. 10, 1 4 for identification, as of 7--29--86.) 1 5 BY MR. SPEIGHTS: 1 6 Q. In your memorandum to Mr. Snell I believe 1 7 you quoted from the 1943 bulletin, is than correct? 1 8 A. Yes. 1 9 Q. Would you read that quote, please? 2 0 A. As revealed in the memorandum, it state.s, 2 1 "It is recommended that before any applicant for * 2 2 employment is hired, the history of his previous 2 3 employment be fully developed. If there is a _ ' 24 questionable history of exposure to asbestos or _
UWa ni'cf/i,
icn&c'uj arul criticcLate-i, fjnc.
(2nicaqo, iJffinoii G (3". 2 7G2-8387
51
1 silica dust or an indicated partial lung disability. A
2 such as tuberculosis, the applicant should not be
3 employed until satisfactorily passing a medical
4 examination. Such a medical examination shall
5 include the taking of chest x-rays and their
6 interpretation by Saranac Laboratories as set forth
7 in bulletin 4-5."
8 That concludes the quote from the bulletin.
9 Q. And then I believe -- I would request that
1 0 you read the last paragraph on page 2.
1 1 A. The last paragraph on page 2 states,
1 2 "I believe these documents are sufficient to impute
1 3 to the corporation some knowledge of the
1 4 relationship between exposure to asbestos and
1 5 development of some disease. Accordingly. I nelieve
1 6 we are going to have to disclose this in future
1 7 answers to interrogatories depending obviously on
1 8 the precise wording of the interrogatory."
1 9 Q. I'm now going to show you a document also
2 0 entitled, "Elimination of Dusty Conditions" dated.
2 1 October 4, 1937 and ask you if you recognize that 1
22 document?
2 3 A. Do I recognize it?
-
2 4 Q. Yes. Dave you seen it before?
czRo i.cn(jz.zj and czdJ-aocLatci., One.
filCMo, DiLncU (312) 762-eos^
5
1 A. I have no idea .
.
f
2 Q. You are familiar with operating bulletins
3 that does reflect that it is an operating bulletin
4 of U.S. Gypsum Company, doesn't it?
5 A. Yes, it is.
6 Q. Is that a predecessor bulletin to
7 Plaintiff's Exhibit 10 which you just read from?
8 A. No, at least not based on the bulletin
9 number.
1 0 Q. I believe that -
1 1 A. And you said a predecessor? What's the
1 2 date on that one?
1 3 Q. 1937.
1 4 A. Well, the two bulletins have the same
1 5 title. My reason for saying that one is not a
1 6 predecessor of the other is based solely on the
1 7 bulletin numbe r.
1 8 Q. Well, I believe you also note in your
1 9 memorandum that the previous operating bulletin,
2 0 that is, the immediately previous one, had not been
2 1 located. 2 2 A . N o No . We ha v e not 1 o c a t e d 4 2 3 don't know t h a t 4- 5 is th 0 p r e d e c e s s o r t o
^ I s oner
2 4 4-5 is r 9 f 9 r e n ced in 111 qu o t e d pa r a g r a p'
WM
WoCf*,
xa and. cdfocLatzi.,
Cfuzaao, {JLtinoit. t (312) ?2`G067
53
1 Q. Is that 4-5? 2 A. No, that's 4-5-1.
3 Q. So that's not the same as the 4-5 referred
4 to in this?
5 A. I would have to go back through all of
6 them, but I am assuming that there is a 4-5 separate
7 from 4-5-1.
8 Q. Now, I also believe -- we are up to 1982,
9 Ms. Torrey. I also believe in 1982 that other
1 0 lawsuits were filed against U.S. Gypsum Company on
1 1 behalf of building owners.
1 2 A. I recall one, possibly two in 1982.
1 3 Q. And then in 1983, some other lawsuits were
1 4 filed on behalf of building owners?
..
1 5 A. Since -- continuously since 1982, there
1 6 have been suits filed.
..
1 7 Q. And among those cases filed in 1982 and
1 8 the first half of 1983 would have been Lexington,
1 9 South Carolina, Greenville, South Carolina,
2 0 Huntsville, Alabama and Spartanburg, South Carolina?
2 1 A. I recall specifically that Lexington w as-
22 served cn United States G'-psum Company the day after
23 M an v ills filed bankruptcy which would put it, I 1 -
2 4 believe, at August 26, '82.
y
VoCft,
and czdJ-*iocuikz, Jnc.
Chicago, DL.Ln.oii. (312) 7S2-S087
54
1 The other cases you mentioned were filed
r-
2 sometime thereafter. Whether it was late '82 or
3 early '83, I would have to check the records.
4 Q. In any event, as a result of these cases,
5 U.S. Gypsum had to respond to various discovery
6 requests?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. And those discovery requests included both
9 requests for U.S. Gypsum documents and written
1 0 interrogatories or questions to U.S. Gypsum Comnany
1 1 by the school districts?
1 2 A. Yes.
1 3 Q. You coordinated the responses to tn.is
1 4 discovery?
-
1 5 A. That's correct.
1 6 Q. In response to this discovery, did you.,
1 7 reveal or produce any of the three exhibits which
1 8 you reviewed in 1980 that Ms. Woodruff presented to
1 9 you, that is, either the letter from Mr. Brown to
20 Mr. Offutt cr the first progress report or Dr. _
2 1 Gardner's study of the Jersey City plant?
^
2 2 A. I'm having troubling with your question
2 3 only because I believe you asked did I ever cause to
2 4 be oroduced anv of these thre-. . The answer to that
<w/l
and
nicaao, iJfiincis # (312) 7*82-3087
, One.
55
1 is no, I did not cause any of these three to be 2 produced .
r-
3 If the question is have any of these three
4 ever been produced, I don't know the circumstances
5 of their being produced to you in Spartanburg 6 because I believe they were produced in response to
7 discovery. And Spartanburg would have been filed at
8 about the same time as your other cases.
-
9 Q. Let me rephrase the question.
1 G In responses to discovery in 1983 in any
1 1 of these four cases, Lexington, Greenville,
1 2 Huntsville or Spartanburg, did you either produce or
1 3 refer to the three documents which Ms. Woodruff
1 4 presented to you in 1980, that is, the Brown to -
1 5 Offutt letter, the first progress report or the New
1 6 Jersey study performed by Dr. Gardner?
..
1 7 A. If we refer specifically to any of these
1 8 three documents in any discovery filed in those
1 9 cases in 1983, the answer is no.
2 0 Q. Now, I go not want to review the entire.
.4
2 1 discovery cf those three cases.
2 2 A . Thank you.
2 3 Q. But I would ask you to read
^'
24 interrogatory 77 and the answer in the Greenville,
^Votjz, <zfx>oicn(je.xj and czdfzzoclatzi, {Jne.
CL icaco, Oiiir.cii $ (312) 7&2-S05'?
56
1 case and request No. 10 and the response in the 2 Greenville case.
3 A. Well, you are showing me something that is
4 not --
5 Q. I can show you the actual discovery if you
6 would like.
7 A. I'll read what's here and you have t:
8 represent that that's what it is. I don't know what
9 it is, but I'll read it.
1 0 Q. No, I'll just get it out then. Ms. Torrey,
1 1 I show you the O.S. Gypsum Company's responses to
1 2 plaintiff's first set of interrogatories in the
1 3 Greenville case, dated or verified on June 28, 1983.
1 4 I ask you to read interrogatory 77 -- it's not -
1 5 necessary to read the subparts -- and U.S. Gypsum
1 6 Company's response to that interrogatory.
17
A. Question 77 without the subpart
-
1 8 states, "Did you direct to be performed, sponsor,
1 9 finance or receive the results of any studies or
20 tests peformed by the Saranac Lake Laboratory or the
2 1 Trudeau Foundation relating to asbestos exposure and
22 i r s effect cn human 1 i f e . If so, identify."
23
The respon s a i r "None of which t his
-
2 4 G ~ fencant is curren: ly awar e . "
V
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and cpdiiocuxtzz, dJnc.
CPiicaQo, Ollinoii (3 72,' 7&2-SQS7
57
1 Q. In addition to that, I believe that
2 Greenville served requests to produce on U.S. Gypsum
3 Do you recall that?
4 A. I don't specifically recall it. I'm sure
5 you did.
6 Q. Do you recognize this order of judge
7 Wilkins?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. And I believe Judge Wilkins on page 3
1 0 quotes request No. 10 and the response, agreed?
1 1 A. That's what it appears to be, yes.
1 2 Q. Would you read the request to produce 10
1 3 and U.S. Gypsum Company's response?
1 4 A. It states, "Any and all other records,,
1 5 correspondence, minutes or other documents of this
1 6 defendant including all subsidiaries, divisions and
1 7 predecessor entities wherein the potential health
1 8 effects cf asbestos have been discussed."
1 9 Response, "Documents responsive to this
20 request have recently been found and will be
.
2 1 forwarded to plaintiff's attorney."
i
22 Q. Now, in response, my understanding is,
23 again, you did not produce the documents located by i
2 4 Ms. Woodruff in 1980 because of the judgment Mr. r
and czdfi.LOciatci., One.
Cki.za.Q0. aCLr.oli O (312} 72-BC57
18
1 Snell made at that time?
2 A. Yes.
3 Q. Additionally, you did not produce the 1943
4 operating bulletin that we have now marked as
5 Plaintiff s Exhibit 10, is that correct?
6 A. I don't know.
7 Q. You do not know whether you produced the * 4 3
8 bulletin or not?
9 A. In any discovery?
1 0 Q. No, in response to that request to produce
1 1 in 1983.
1 2 A. Oh, in '83. I don't believe so.
1 3 Q. Additionally, Ms. Torrev, in 1583,
1 4 sometime during the middle of that year, these three
1 5 documents, Exhibits 2, 3 and 5, found by Ms.
'
1 6 Woodruff in 1 5 8 0 , were transferred from U.S. Gyps.um's
1 7 headquarters, is that correct? 1 6 A . Yes.
-
1 9 Q. My understanding is from 1980 when they
20 were discovered until sometime around June or July,
2 1 1983, they were located or maintained in the legaT
22 department at U.S. Gypsum's headquarters an 101
2 3 South W a c ; e r, Chicago?
24 I
A . That's correct, in the file folders in ,,
Hi c[fz, <zf\oi.e.rz(j.%j and
LtOGUltLi. , One
ChUaao, Uit.noii e (2 ` 21 7B2-SCB7
59
1 which they were given to me.
.
2 Q. Sometime during that period, you directed
3 another attorney in the U.S. Gypsum Company 1 legal
4 department to carry them to the Keck firm which had
5 represented you over the years -- represented U.S.
6 Gypsum over the years?
7 A. Yes.
8
Q. Was any inventory made of what was
-
9 actually carried over there?
1 0 A. Wo.
1 1 Q. Was any cover letter prepared which
1 2 accompanied the documents or which followed up on
1 3 the transfer?
1 4 A. No.
-
1 5 Q. Was there any chain of custody document
1 6 executed when you transferred these to the Keck f.irm?
1 7 A. None of which I am aware.
-
1 8 Q. Was there any receipt slip executed over
1 9 at the Keck firm signing for the documents?
20 A. I don't know whether one was or not. I.
2 1 have not seen one. I don't know if they have soml
22 internal system that they may have maintained.
23
Q. It's also my understanding that those
-
24 documents remained over there throughout ore t i m e y - -
OVodfz,
^oi-zindzztj and. cOtiX>eiats.< , One.
Ckiceuio, OOLtincii. (3*2) 7&2-S0S7
60
1 throughout the balance of your time as the
-
A
2 coordinator of the property damage litigation, that
3 is, until August of 1984, is that correct?
4 A. I don't personally knew what the Keck firm
5 did with the documents. I requested that they be 6 maintained as they would any of their other
7 historical client files. I had no reason to ask for
8 the documents or to request to see the documents or
9 have to have anything to do withr the documents 1 0 during the remaining time I was involved the
1 1 asbestos litigation.
1 2 Q. You do recognize now, however, that the
1 3 actual copy of Exhibit 2, the letter from Vandiver 1 4 Brown to J.S. Offutt, and the letter from -- and-the
1 5 first progress report attached tc that letter have
1 6 not been located?
.
1 7 A. I have been told that the tissue copy I 1 8 recall sending -- that I recall I had which is the
1 9 one I sent back has not been located.
20 Q. Additionally in 1983, you discovered th.at --
2 1 or beginning in 1983, you no longer could locate the
22 research documents or. Audicote that we discussed
2 3 05.r3.i0r? 2 4 A. That's correct. That happened in March,of
\W/h4
<11 c(i c, c:^>oizn(jz'u] and z^diiocLata, dJnc.
eCLC CLO Of CJ[Cine it
(312) 7S2-BC37
61
1 1 983 . 2 Q. And as of this date in 1986, those folders
3 approximately three feet high have not been located
4 to your knowledge?
5 A. In the last year, year and a quarter, I
6 have been shown a number of folders for my opinion
7 as to whether any of these in fact were any of the 8 documents that I had relating to the co-called -
9 Audicote working files in 1 9 80 . ,
1 0 One file conforms to my recollection of
1 1 what those files looked like, but I cannot
1 2 positively confirm that any of these which I have
1 3 been shown in fact were those that I had.
1 4 Q. When were you shown this one that conforms?
1 5 A. I recall being shown it two weeks ago when
1 6 it conformed to my recollection. I may have been
1 7 shown that same one earlier in this same time pe r i o d
1 8 I just de s c ribed . But as of about two weeks ago , it
1 9 looked to me when I saw it t hat it conformed to m v
20 recollection.
2 1 Q . Who showed it to you? 2 2 A . My former secret ary. 2 3 Q. Was it one file folder? 2 4 A . Cor r e c t .
-
0,Vo[f-, <zfx?c*zn(-re.,uj curd cr~fi.cziatzi., One.
dkiccuso, Ditinoii 6 (2'2} 7s2-S?57
62
1 Q. Did she indicate that it was pulled from a
2 group?
A
3 A . I'm not sure. It was in the legal
4 department. It was on the sixth floor. 5 MR. SPEIGHTS: Mr. Cale, I paused hoping that
6 you would volunteer to go get that file or whatever
7 files I have been seeking since 1983. I don't want
8 to have to return and repeat this process. Is that
9 available?
'
1 0 MR. CALE: It is available. In fact, it is in
1 1 the document production system of the company, i.e., 1 2 those documents that are regularly made available.
1 3 Why don't we -- I'm just trying to think for a
1 4 minute.
1 5 Let's take a break and let me confer with
1 6 counsel and see where we go on that one.
_
17
(WHEREUPON, discussion was had
.
1 8 off the record.)
1 9 MR. SPEIGHTS: Let's go back on the record.
2 0 BY MR. SPEIGHTS:
2 1 Q. Ms. Torrey, during the break, counsel has
2: one file folder, less than an inch thick
23
green color marked Aucicote.
1-
/'>. ~A s t h i s the file fo leer v o u were r" cs f - r ^ ' nQ
\W/ii
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and arJ-iLocLatzi, dJnc.
Cr.tzaao, iJffir.ois (312)782-8037
63
1 to that conforms at least in part to what you recall
2 as being the way the research documents were set up?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. You don't know whether this is one of the
5 three-foot stack or not?
6 A. I can't confirm it positivelv. J
|
7 Q. And your recollection, I believe, is that 1
e the file folders that you got in 1980 from the
-
9 research department were blue inv_color?
1 0 A. That's correct.
.
1 1 Q. And you don't know to this day anything
1 2 about either the balance of the three-foot stack or
1 3 the three-foot stack itself, if this is not one of
1 4 the stack?
-
1 5 A. That's correct.
'
.
1 6 MR. CALE : Obviously, subject tc all the thijics i
1 7 that she has testified tc on this subject in her -
1 8 prior deposition in this case.
1 9 MR. SPEIGHTS: I'm gcing to a sk that counsel
20 provide me a copy o f everything i n this file folder
2 1 and the copy of the file folder it self.
~
2 2 MR . CALE: It will be dene.
23
MR . SPEIGHTS: If possible, T would like t c
-
2 4 have one thing done today to giv rn 0 some ir. i g t c
QVoff-z.
and <zdfnocLatz, jnc.
CnUaac, D[ur.cii O (3'2] '7S2-8CS7
6r
1 read on the airplane.
2 MR. CALE: We'11 try.
`
3 BY MR. SPEIGHTS:
4 Q. Ms. Torrey, I think we have talked up to
5 now the period 1979 up through 1983. I want to talk 6 to you a few minutes about 1984.
7 You are aware that Judge Wilkins in the
8 Greenville case conducted a hearing on the
.
9 defendant's responses to discovery from January 9,
r- .
1 0 1 9 84 ?
1 1 A. Yes.
1 2 Q. I believe your local counsel provided you
1 3 a copy of the ruling made by Judge Wilkins at that
1 4 hearing?
_
1 5 A. I was provided a portion of the transcript
1 6 which contained that rule, yes.
1 7 Q. I show you this document and ask you if it
1 8 is a portion of a transcript you were provided?
1 9 A. It appears to be.
20 Q. Insofar as as Judge Wilkins's ruling 2 1 apt 1 ie s to notice documents, I would ask y o u t o r e^ad 2 2 that rul i ng w h i c h I h a v e I b e 1 ieve brack e:ed f o r you. 23 A. T he po r t i o n you have bracketed r O GQ 3 as .. 2 4 ^~ /-\ X1 '-i- c w s , " W h i 1 e I h a v e con side v* o < ~ r b ^ b 'i h i nc wQ r l'
WWa
nio/Jt, cddoizn.&z.'Uj and cdfitocLatzi, dine.
ft 7C^iltaao, )[[inoii.
(3 2} '782-SCS7
65
1 place all the parties on notice that this order is
2 being issued with the court's full understanding and
3 intent to apply rule 37(B)(2)(C) to any offending
4 party of this order which will include the court
5 entering a default judgment or dismissing the action
6 against the offending party.
7 There must be a time where these matters
8 are laid to rest and you get on to new business and
9 the business of resolving this controversy.
1 0 All the defendants shall answer within...30
1 1 days. I might add the court is going to review the
1 2 responding answers with its interpretation of good
1 3 faith, reasonable effort to comply and will not deal
1 4 nor allow justification to be based on semantics..
15
All defendants shall answer this
1 6 interrogatory that the court propounds which is ..
1 7 perhaps a combination of numbers that have already
1 8 been propounded. The date that the company or its
1 9 officers or its agents or its employees to the best
20 of that company's ability must state the date that
2 1 these individuals received information written or i
22 oral, first became aware of, first became suspicious
2 3 of the fact that asbestos may be a harmful substan c*e
24 and all similar information since that first cate.,
cJ^oi.e.nbz'i^ and czdfi.olatz, {]n.c
cacc
c (3*2' 7 2-80S 7
66
1 This includes information acquired
2 individually by the company, its officers, agents,
3 en.ployees and information that was generally known
4 in the industry. It also includes any facts, any
5 data, any reports, any opinions which tend to
6 support the belief that asbestos is a harmful
7 product to health."
8 MR. SPEIGHTS: I'm going to ask that be marked
9 as Plaintiff's Exhibit 11.
,
1 0 (WHEREUPON, said document was marked
1 1 Plaintiff's Deposition Exhibit No. 11
1 2 for identification, as of 7-29-86.)
1 3 BY MR. SPEIGHTS: 1 4 Q. Now, in response to that court order, did
1 5 you coordinate the U.S. Gypsum Company response? -
1 6 A Yes, I coordinated it.
1 7 Q. Did you and, I think, Mr. Smith in fact
1 8 prepare the first draft of it?
1 9 A. Yes.
2 0 Q. Did you consult with Mr. Snell concerning
2 1 the response?
2 2 A. Yes, briefly.
2 3 Q. I show you this document and ask you
24
is the response which U.S. Gvosum Company
/
67
1 again in response to Judge Wilkins's ruling which
2 you have just read into the record? 3 A. Yes, it appears to be.
4 MR. SPEIGHTS : I ask that be marked as 5 plaintiff's Exhibit 12.
6 (WHEREUPON, said document was marked
7 Plaintiff's Deposi :ion Exhibit No. 12,
8 for identification, as of 7-29-86.)
9 BY MR. SPEIGHTS:
'
1 0 Q. Would you read the first two paragraphs of 1 1 zhat response?
1 2 A. "United States Gypsum Company (hereinafter
1 3 called 'USG') responds to the 'notice1 i nterroga tory
1 4 propounded by the Honorable William w. Wilkins on
1 5 January 9, 1984 as follows: 1 6 A thorough review of USG files and
_
1 7 records which could be identified as possibility . 1 8 containing information encompassed by this
1 9 interrogatory reveals that on or about September 3, 20 1948, is the earliest documented date upon which USG
2 1 or any of its officers, employees or agents in an-
z z individual or corporate capacity first became
Z _1 suspicious c r aware that asbestos may be a harmful 24
WMa
<W/i, cddoze.n&zia and czrj-zzocLatzz, dJnc.
C-icaoo,
* r3T2,' 7e2-S087
68
1 Q. Now, Ms. Torrey, would you agree with me
2 that you did not reveal the letter from Mr. Brown to
3 Mr. Offutt of 1937 or the first progress report or
4 the Jersey City study prepared by Dr. Gardner in
5 1936 in response to the court's interrogatory?
6 A. Those documents were not produced or
7 identified in response to the court's interrogatory,
8 correct.
9 Q. Did you specifically discuss with Mr.
1 0 Snell whether he should revisit the issue of whether
1 1 these documents should be revealed in light of Judge
1 2 Wilkins' ruling?
1 3 A. I gave Mr. Snell a copy of the draft:
1 4 response which had been prepared along with copies
1 5 of the documents we were proposing to identify a r. d
1 6 produce and raised with him the question of the K.eck
1 7 documents.
-
1 8 Q. And was Mr. Snell's position the same,
1 9 that is, that those documents should not be revealed?
2 0 A. His position was the same, that the proper
2 1 response on behalf of the company would include A
2 2 documents which were United States Gypsum Company
23 documents, and that in his opinion, again, these -
2 4 were not United States Gypsum Company d o c u m e r. n s . y
WM OVotfz, czf^oi.c.n(jg,xcj cuzJ. czOitoeLatei., One..
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69
1 Q. And, again, that was his judgment? 2 A. Correct.
3 Q. Did you provide or refer to the 1943
4 operating bulletin in response o Judge Wilkins'
5 notice interrogatory?
6 A. It does not appear on the list, no.
7 Q. Additionally on the second page, you refer
8 to the Saranac study or the memorandum of agreement.
9 1 0 tome?
Would you read that part of the paragraph .
1 1 A. "Additionally, USG is aware of a
1 2 'memorandum of agreement' dated November 20, 1936
1 3 produced in other litigation which suggests that USG
1 4 may have contributed to a study conducted by Dr. -
1 5 LeRoy Gardner at Saranac Lake Laboratory commencing
1 6 in 1936. Howeve r, a s indicated on the listing, U.S
1 7 could not confirm whe ther or to what extent it may
1 8 have part icipared i n the study or received the
1 9 findings.
2 0 Q. Now, I believe shortly after that you
2 1 stated earlier you attended the trial of rhe
2 2 Lexington case in South Carolina?
2 3 Yes.
2 4 Q. And cur
xs
<zfx?o*zn(;zXj and czrfaocLata,
dh.Lc.ciQo, d.dr.ois (312) ~S2-8CE7
70
1 attorneys attempted to introduce the memorandum of
2 agreement and the certain reports of Dr. Gardner. 3 Do you recall that? 4 A. I recall that you attempted to introduce
5 in the '36 agreement. Which of the other documents 6 you attempted to introduce, I do not recall.
7 Q. Would you agree with me that U.S. Gypsum's
8 local counsel while you were present resisted any,
9 connection between U.S. Gypsum and Saranac during '
1 0 that trial?
1 1 A . No .
1 2 Q. You would not agree with that?
1 3 A. No, I would not. If you would like to
1 4 show me a transcript of the trial proceedings and
1 5 refresh my memory, I would be happy to review it, 1 6 but that's not my recollection of the discussion at
1 7 the trial.
1 3 Q . Well, I don't have a transcript with me,
1 9 but I'll certainly discuss that with Morgan, Lewis &
20 Bockius counsel who were also counsel at the
2 1 Lexington trial. 22 In addition to Judge Wilkins' notice
*-
2 3 interrogatory, I believe Greenville followed up w i tit 24 a special interrogatory inquiring as :: where the
n VoCfz,
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1 documents that were produced had been found?
2 A . Yes.
3 Q. Is that a copy of chat special
4 interrogatory and U.S. Gypsum Company's response?
5 A. Before we get to this, I feel constrained
6 to point out since you're trying to create a clear
7 record, the question you raised to me about the
8 Lexington trial was did we dispute any connection
9 with Saranac. I am disputing your - r characterizatio.n
1 0 of what the controversy was.
'
1 1 You certainly -- plaintiff's attorneys for
1 2 Lexington certainly attempted to introduce the
1 3 memorandum of agreement and other documents in at
1 4 trial. But I think you need to refer to what the.
1 5 argument was as to the basis of United States Gypsum
1 6 Company's objection and its argument.
j
1 7 Q. Would you agree with me that during that
1 8 trial and indeed prior to that trial, U.S. Gypsum
1 9 did not acknowledge any past relationship with
20 Saranac in the '30s or the '40s?
2 1 A. Net witr. respect to asbestos, and the A 2 2 Questions that w e r e po sea were always related
2 3 asbestos. The que stion you're raising is any 2 4 relationship w i t n Saranac wnat soever, n rN. +* x -- rn
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3 7 2' 7 S2-8CS7
72
1 asbestos.
A
2 Q. Okay. Let's get the question straight.
3 Would you agree with nr. e that during the
4 trial of the Lexington case, Lexington's attorneys
5 attempted to introduce a connection between U.S.
6 Gypsum and Saranac in regard to asbestos studies?
7 A. The plaintiff's attorneys for Lexington
8 attempted to introduce into evidence the memorandum
9 of agreement, and I seem to recall certain other
1 0 documents relating to the Sumner Simpson papers and
1 1 perhaps the entire Sumner Simpson file. 1 2 Q. Which dealt with asbestos?
1 3 A. Relating to asbestos.
1 4 Q. Anc would you also agree with me that U.S.
1 5 Gypsum's attorneys at the trial of the Lexington'
1 6 case with you in attendance did not acknowledge any
1 7 past relationship between U.S. Gypsum arc Saranac in 1 8 regards to asbestos?
1 9 A. The legal objection raised that I recall
20 was one of authentication of the documents you were
2 1 attempting to introduce into evidence.
*
22 Q. For what other reason weald you agree that
2 3 U.S. Gypsum did not acknowledge any past
^'
2 4 relationship between Saranac and U.S. Gypsum, insofar
0,Vo[je.,
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(1nicaac, Oil-ncit. '3 7 2] ?SCS
73
1 as asbestos ?
2 A. That question I can't respond to without
3 referring to the transcript. I recall that the
4 basis cf the objection was one of authentication of
5 the documents and it was limited to that issue.
6 Q. Now, let me review, because we kind of got
7 off base. On January 9, Judge Wilkins issued his
8 interrogatory which USG responded to in early
-
9 February. Lexington, I believe,,, was tried in early
1 0 April, is that your recollection?
1 1 A. Yes.
1 2 Q. On April 23, U.S. Gypsum responded to the
1 3 special interrogatory whicn Greenville served on
1 4 U.S. Gypsum asking about the source of the documents
1 5 it had produced, correct?
'
1 6 A. Yes.
.
1 7 MR. SPEIGHTS: I'm going to ask that this
1 8 interrogatory, special interrogatory and U.S. Gypsum's
1 9 response be marked collectively as Plaintiff's
20 Exhibit 13.
.
2 1 (WHEREUPON, said document was marked
2 2 Plaintiff's Deoosition Exhibit No. 13, ~ it[
2 3 for identification, as of 7-29-86.)' |
2 4 3Y MR. SPEIGHTS:
,,I
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74
1 Q. Did you coordinate this response, that is,
2 to the special interrogatory?
3 A. No, I didn't. I was aware of it and I
4 reviewed it, but -- in the broad sense, I
5 coordinated it, but I didn't prepare it.
6 Q. Would you agree with me that this document
7 reflects that USG did not conduct a review in detail
8 of the box found by Donna Woodruff and brought tc
9 the legal department until after. Judge Wilkins'
1 0 order of January 9, 1984?
...
1 1 A. I think the only way I can respond to that
1 2 is by reading that portion of the response. "The
1 3 order entered by this court was far oroader than
1 4 discovery previously responded to by this defendant.
1 5 Because of its breadth, this defendant was required
1 6 to seek to determine the existence of files not ..
1 7 previously known to exist and to search through many 1 8 files net previously reviewed. This explains the
1 9 production of documents herein which this defendant
20 believes not fall within plaintiff's previous
,
2 1 discovery requests.
*
2 2 The existence cf a box containing the
23 following documents 'was determined by ( a } Donna
-
2 4 Woodruff, USG paralegal or ( b approximately
,,
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75
1 January/February( 1980. This box (C) was clearly
2 marked as pertaining solely to silicosis in the USG
3 corporate files storage facility located at 101
4 South Kacker Drive.
5 The file within which the documents were
6 located was (D) a box of insurance department papers,
7 specifically entitled' Miscellaneous Workman's
8 Compensation Data - Silicosis Cases. ' The
9 custodian of the documents at the time they were
1 0 located was (e) Dorothy Littlejohn, files.
1 1 Because this box was clearly labeled
1 2 'silicosis' they were never revealed in detail for
i 3 information relating to asbestos until this
1 4 defendant undertook a more extensive review of .
1 5 documents in order to comply as fully as possible
1 6 with Judge Wilkins' order and therefore included,,
1 7 tnis box in its search.'1 1 8 Q And that search of the box was made
-
1 9 sometime in early 1984?
20 A Yes
2 1 Q And that books contained some of Mr
2 2 Kipp's papers?
2 3 A There are saners in there which I recall 24 and I would have to refer to the i i s - i n ^ f Vi'
76
1 either sent to or authored by Mr. Kipp. I would not
2 characterize them as Mr. Kipp's papers.
3 Q. Would you read that paragraph for me?
4 A. "Shortly before his death in 1980, C.P.
5 Kipp then manager insurance stated that USG was not
6 a member of the Asbestos Cement Producers
7 Association although he had attended a few meetings
8 for his personal information only.
-
9 A search was made for these documents in
1 0 February, 1984 by S.K. Torrey specifically for the
1 1 purpose of responding to the notice interrogatories
1 2 heretofore propounded."
1 3 Q. Now, 1 want to refer back to --
1 4 A. Excuse me, but the question you posed to
1 5 me was were the Kipp papers -- the Kipp file in'
1 6 that bo.
..
17
Q. I understand that was the orevious
-
1 8 question.
1 9 A. A11 right.
20 Q. And you responded to it and then I asked
2 1 you to read another section of this order which 't
2 2 refers to Kipp papers as wall.
23 A ,u1
2 4 No' r w
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77
1 which is the March 24, 1982 memo from you to Mr.
2 Snell and ask you to read that paragraph.
3 A. "Finally, as I showed you, there is
4 correspondence in some old files maintained by the
5 insurance department that Mr. Kipp in 1953 embarked
6 upon a project to gather articles concerning
7 asbestosis . "
8 Q. In addition to that special interrogatory,
9 I believe Judge Wilkins issued an other order after
1 0 the Lexington trial in April of 1984. Do you recall
1 1 tha t ?
1 2 A. Yes.
1 3 Q. And that is what is sometimes been 1 4 referred to as an encompassment order?
1 5 A. Yes.
1 6 Q . Is that a copy of that order? 1 7 A . Yes.
1 8 MR. SPEIGHTS: I would ask that be marked as
1 9 Exhibit 14.
2 0 (WHEREUPON, said document was marked 2 1 Plaintiff's Deposition Exhibit So.i14,
2 2 for identification, as of 7-29-86.)
23 3Y MR. SPEIGHTS: 2 4 rru se
n cnarac
-
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izn&z.'uj and czdJ-**ccLat.i, One.
(2fzicc.cc, JLiinoLt
(312) ?'S2-8GS7
78
1 order without reading it and if you feel compelled
2 to read it, that's fine.
3 Would you agree with me that Judge Wilkins 4 required -- strike that. Would you read paragraph 2
5 of that order, please?
6 A. "The defendant shall on cr before May 14,
7 1984 file their final responses to the plaintiff's
8 request to produce documents together with a
9 statement verified by the parti e^s specifically 1 0 setting forth the encompassment of the search, the
1 1 person or persons who participated in the search and
1 2 the identification of all documents for which they
1 3 claim privilege."
1 4 Q. In response to that, did you personally
1 5 file an affidavit in compliance with -- o - strike
1 6 that .
..
1 7 In response to Judge Wilkins' order in or
1 8 around April 25, 1984 marked as Exhibit 14, did you
1 9 prepare and file an affidavit?
20 A . Yes.
21
Q Is that a copy cf the affidavit?
X
2 2 A . In part.
2 3 MR . SPEIGHTS: Let's co off the record a r. i r. d ^ -3 .
2 4 (WHEREUPON, discussion was had
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and czrj-
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79
1 off the record.)
2 BY MR. SPEIGHTS:
3 Q. Is that a copy of the affidavit you filed
4 in response to Judge Wilkins' order?
5 A. Yes. 6 MR. SPEIGHTS: I ask that be marked as 7 Plaintiff's Exhibit 15. 8 (WHEREUPON, said document was marked
9 Plaintiff's Deposition Exhibit No. 15, 1 0 for identification, as of 7-29-86.)
1 1 BY MR. SPEIGHTS:
1 2 Q. I would ask you to read paragraph 9.
1 3 A. "At present, no other documents have beer,
1 4 located responsive to plaintiff's request to produce 1 5 dated January 13, 1983 as qualified by outstanding
1 6 objections and excluding privileged documents, if. 1 7 any, and as already disclosed in United States -
1 8 Gypsum Company's supplemental responses or
1 9 previously produced to plaintiff's counsel without
20 formal supplementation ether than the attached which
2 1 was located recently."
'
2 2 Q. Now, at chat time had you, by that I mean,
2 3 you, U.S. Gypsum, produced either Plainniff's
'
2 4 Exhibit 2, the Brown no Gffutt letter , Plaintiff ' =
n Vo [j-t,
and.
Cf:U CLCO, JJ Liino it
(2*2] 7'32-t
80
1 Exhibit 3, the first progress report, or Plaintiff's
2 Exhibit 5, the Jersey City study of Dr. Gardner?
3 A. No . 4 Q. At that time, did you list or at any time
5 before had you listed any of those three documents 6 as being privileged?
7 A. No .
8 C- At that time, had you provided a copy of
9 the 1943 operating bulletin whic^h we have previously
1 0 marked?
1 1 A. No . 1 2 Q. What is the date of that affidavit, please,
1 3 Miss Tor rey? 1 4 A. May 25th, 1984.
1 5 Q. I believe within several weeks, that the
1 6 boxes which you now believe Ms. Woodruff originally
1 7 located in 1980 were located by an attorney working 1 8 under you at the time?
1 9 A. Gary Smith, an attorney in the department,
20 found in the warehouse somewhere in the period June
2 1 15th to June 20th, '84 three boxes which we now A
22 believe based coon the recently-found Donna Woodruff
2 3 memo to have seen found by her in 1980.
_"
r
24 Q. And in those three boxes, among ocher ,,
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81
1 things, were located Plaintiff's Exhibits 6 and 7,
A
2 that is, the summary of the Jersey City report and
3 the letter forwarding the summary and the report to
4 the law firm?
5 A. I have been told that.
6 Q. i'm going to show you another document 7 dated September 16, 1936 and ask whether that was
8 also located in the three boxes?
.
9 A. I don't know from personal knowledge. I
1 0 believe that that's where is it came from. I have 1 1 been told that, but I don't know.
1 2 Q. Let me give you a series of five documents 1 3 and ask if it is your understanding that those five
1 4 documents were--
,
1 5 A. I think I have to first point out that
1 6 when the boxes were discovered, once Gary had 1 7 pointed out to me the existence of the Jersey City 1 8 study and I confirmed that it was the Jersey City 1 9 study, I did not tnorougnly review the contents of
20 the box.
2 1 I pretty much stopped at that point. So I
2 2 really don't have personal knowledge of tieir
2 3 contents. I nave been told mat there was some
-
2 4 corresoncence in t h 6 s 6 00x05 rrolsoino 00 so *00 sort
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82
1 of a lawsuit that didn't directly involve the . . A
2 company.
3 I assume that these are thos- and it came
4 out of the boxes, but I don't know that personally.
5 MR. SPEIGHTS: I'm going to have them marked
6 and if we can not work out a stipulation later. I'll 7 independently deal with the situation. But since I
8 have shown them to you, I want to mark them for the
9 record and I ask thev be marked .as follows:
1 0 Plaintiff's Exhibit 16 is a letter from
1 1 C.C. Scharwath to H.R. Barrett. It's noted at the
1 2 top, "Copy, United States Gypsum Company" dated
1 3 September 16, 1937.
1 4 (WHEREUPON, said document was marked
1 5 Plaintiff's Deposition Exhibit No. 16,
1 6 for identification, as of 7-29 -8 6 .,.)
17
MR. SPEIGHTS: Exhibit 17, a letter from
-
1 8 Assistant To President to J.A. Scharwath on U.S.
1 9 Gypsum Company letterhead dated September 29, 1937.
2 0 (WHEREUPON, said document was marked
2 1 Plaintiff's Deposition Exhibit No.*17, 2 2 for identification, as of 7-29-86.)
2 3 MR. SPEIGHTS: Exhibit 18, a letter from J.S.-
2 4 Offutt, Assistant to President, to Scott, MacLeis^. &
<W/, cRote.nC'%j and. cdJ-LiocLatz-i, One.
Ct.Uaso, UiU-ioU r312; 72-S??7
83
1 Falk which we have been referring to as the Keck law
2 firm, on U.S. Gypsum Company letterhead dated
3 September 29, 1937.
4 (WHEREUPON, said document was marked
5 Plaintiff's Deposition Exhibit No. 18,
6 for identification, as of 7-29-86.,
7 MR. SPEIGHTS: Exhibit 19 is a letter from John
8 J. Cuneo Cuneo of Jersey City, to the Keck law firm
9 dated October 8,' 1937.
."
-
1 0 (WHEREUPON, said document was marked
1 1 Plaintiff's Deposition Exhibit No. 19,
1 2 for identification, as of 7-29-86.)
1 3 MR. SPEGIHTS: Exhibit 20 is a letter frcm an
1 4 unidentified source unless otherwise identified in
1 5 the body to John J. Cuneo dated October 28, 1937'.
1 6 (WHEREUPON, said document was marked
1 7 Plaintiff's Deposition Exhibit No.- 20, 1 8 for identification, as of 7-29-86.)
1 9 BY MR. SPEIGHTS:
2 0 Q. Would you agree with me from reading these
2 1 documents that they report an allegation that
^
2 2 someone who was a bookkeeper at the Jersey City
23 plant sustained asb st osis?
'
2 4 A. I didn't read them that carefully. Wo u1p
aVoCft, cz/^oi.zn.L's.'uj and
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, dJnc.
84
1 it be easier if I just read this paragraph?
2 Q. Yes, just do that.
3 A. "For my dad, ask if you would care to help
4 him with a review of the Gypsum Company's experience
5 with silicosis or asbestosis. Recall that you had
6 told me about several cases that the company had and
7 he now has a suit against him by a former assistant
8 bookkeeper of the old National Asbestos Company
9 whose desk at least more than 200 feet away from any 1 0 other machinery as well as being segregated in the
1 1 office from the factory."
1 2 MR. SPEIGHTS: Let me take a break just a
1 3 minute . I believe that's going to be all.
14
(WHEREUPON, a recess was had.)
1 5 BY MR. SPEIGHTS:
1 6 C. Miss Torrey, I understand that on August
1 7 20, 1984, you ceased any involvement with the
1 8 defense of asbestosis, either personal injury or
1 9 property damage?
2 0 A. Ye s .
.
21
Q. And prior to that date, you did not
i
22 supplement or amend your affidavit filed with Judge
2 3 Wilkins?
'
2 4 A. There 'was no supplementation or
r
<zJx>oi.zn&zxcj and <zrfi&ociats.i., One.
Oit^noii. Q (3'2} 72-S057
85
1 modification of the affidavit, that's correct.
2 Q. And tc your knowledge, there was no
3 supplementation or modification to the responses to
4 discovery. Judge Wilkins' discovery between the time
5 you filed those in the spring of '84 until August 2C,
6 1 9 84 ?
7 A . There was none filed, no.
8 MR SPEIGHTS: Thank you. Tnat's all I have.
9 MR CALE: I have a few questions.
1 0 EXAMINATION
1 1 BY MR. CALE:
1 2 Q. Ms. Torrey, I would ask you again to look
1 3 at the series of documents that counsel has marked
1 4 Plaintiff's Exhibit 16 through Plaintiff's Exhibit
1 5 20 and direct your attention to the document
'
1 6 Plaintiff's Exhibit 20 which I believe is the . -
1 7 response of someone to Mr. John J . Cuneo, the -
1 8 attorney for Mr. Scharwach replying to his letter of
1 9 October 8th which was marked as Plaintiff's Exhibit
2 0 19, and I would ask you if you would read into th.e
2 1 record just the first sentence of the beginning *
2 2 paragraph on page 2 of that letter?
23 A . "We have not had o c c a s i c r. t c defend any '
2 4 case brouohr for a s b e s t c s i s which is c'a of the t*o
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86
1 recognized diseases resulting from the breathing of
2 dangerous dust, the other being silicosis."
3 Q. Thank you.
4 MR. SPEIGHTS: Could I ask the date of that?
5 BY MR. CALE:
6 Q. Also on this exhibit, are there initials
7 of the author of that letter and the typist?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. And what are those initials?
1 0 A. CMP and the typist's initials are IC. ._
1 1 Q. And is the letter to which that is a
1 2 response Plaintiff's Exhibit 19 addressed to Charles
1 3 M. Price whose initials are CMP?
1 4 A. Y e s .
-
1 5 MR. SPEIGHTS: Would you mind her stating the
1 6 date of that letter before you move to another
1 7 subject?
.
1 8 3 Y MR. CALE:
1 9 Q. Could you tell us the date of that letter,
2 0 please, Exhibit 20?
.
2 1 A. October 2 8 , 1 9 3 7 .
J"
2 2 Q. To your knowledge, by the way, was John J.
2 3 Cuneo of 921 Bergen Avenue, Jersey City, New Jersey
24 an attorney wording
Ur.ioed Soanes C-vi
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87
1 A . I'm no aware that he was
2 Q. I now show you Plaintiff's Exhibit 5 which
3 we have referred to as the Jersey City study and I
4 believe plaintiff's counsel had you read into the
5 record a paragraph appearing on page 4 which reads 6 as follows: "The authors of the report conclude
i
7 that it is not possible from their findings to
8 establish the maximum safe concentration of asbestos
9 dust in the air."
1 0 Following that paragraph, there is another
1 1 paragraph in the report on page 5 and I would ask
1 2 that you read the first full paragraph on page 5 of
1 3 that report.
1 4 A. "While asbestosis may be a milder type of
1 5 fibrosis than is silicosis, it does not appear from
1 6 the studies mentioned above that a standard for a
1 7 safe concentration of asbestos dust would permit a
1 8 greater concentration than the value already given
1 9 for free silica dust. It is quite possible that the
2 0 safe limit might be even lower for asbestos than for
21
For present, it would seem beet to attempt
2 3 keen he concentration of asbestos dust less th err.
2 4 t n a n a 11ion particles per cubic foot of air r
^llcLj-z,
and cOf-<u>ciaizi, One.
dhlzciQo, Ij-tincii r3l2J 7S2-S027
88
1 counted by light field examination."
2 Q. Counsel also had asked about the Lexington
3 trial and position of the company at that trial with
4 respect to its relationship with Saranac Lake
5 Laboratory?
6 A . Yes.
7 Q. At the time of the Lexington trial, had a
8 copy of the 1949 final report of the asbestos
9 studies done at Saranac Lake beenr < identified and 1 0 provided to plaintiff's counsel?
1 1 A. Yes.
1 2 Q. And in what case was that final report 1 3 provided?
1 4 A. Greenville.
1 5 Q. And that was prior to the trial of the'
1 6 Lexington case?
1 7 A. Yes.
-
1 8 Q. In connection with the questions about the
1 9 finding of certain of the documents that have been
20 identified here by Donna Woodruff in 1980, were you
2 1 at that time in the process of responding to any ~
2 2 d i s c o v e ry requests in property damage litigation?
2 3 A . No .
-
2 4 Q find were chose documents an that time v
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and cdfmecLatz*, dine
d1 !n. n n dJitinoil C f2 1 2 ' 7B 2-3 02
89
1 required to be produced pursuant to any discovery
2 requests in property damage litigation?
3 A. No .
4 Q. Referring now to Plaintiff's Exhibit 9
5 which is your memorandum to Mr. Snell discussing 6 certain operating bulletins of the company, I would
7 direct your attention to the second page of that
8 memorandum and ask you to read into the record the
9 second full paragraph?
1 0 A. "The second bulletin which has surfaced is
1 1 another operating bulletin which is labeled
1 2 hazardous chemical used in paint manufacture. It is
1 3 Nc. 602 and was promulgated on 8-11-48. The
1 4 historical file copy carries the notation 'expired'
1 5 by the section which refers to asbestos."
16
Q.
Are you familiar with that bulletin?
.
1 7 A. Yes, I am.
1 8 Q. Can you tell us in essence what it states?
1 9 A With respect to asbest os, i t on the
20 le f tha nd column states the term a s b e s t o s and in
2 1 n e x t c olumn, purports to discuss the a i s e a s e
2 2 re suit i n g and I believe contains lan.g urge t o the
23 a f
o f prole nged exposure to treat h i n g a s b 9 S -
2 4 a u S "t, c a n cause a disabling long condi tier k n o w n
^['VoLjz, ccRoi.e.nfjs.'Uj and c^diiociatzi, jjnc. z7r ----- nrt . * n-o' 7co..ood7
90
1 asbe stos i s .
.
2 Q. Was that document provided voluntarily by
3 the company in response to a discovery request
4 served in asbestos property damage litigation?
5 A . Yes.
6 Q. And can you tell us approximately when
7 that document was first produced to any plaintiff in
8 the property damage asbestos litigation?
9 A. June,1983.
.
1 0 Q. And do you know in which case and to which
1 1 plaintiff's counsel that document was produced?
1 2 A. I believe it was Greenville Lexington, bur
1 3 we could check the records.
1 4 Q. Who would counsel have been in that case
1 5 for the plaintiff?
'
1 6 A. Mr. Speights.
..
1 7 Q. And was that prior to judge Wilkins 1 8 entering his notice interrogatory?
-
1 9 A. Yes.
20 Q. And by approximately how many months? .
2 1 A. Six,seven.
*
2 2 Q. Counsel referred to the documents than
2 3 appeared in the Asbestos L'tication Reporter and I -
2 4 oeiieve reores a p r- a /
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1 late '70s, the 1936 memorandum agreement and three
2 progress reports were included and reported on. Do
3 you recall the questions regarding that subject?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. Do you recall the dates of those progress 6 reports that were reported in the Asbestos 7 Litigation Reporter at the time the 1936 memorandum
8 agreement was published?
-
9 A. I believe they were all 1937.
1 0 Q. To your knowledge, was the 1943 monograph
1 1 that counsel has referred to reported in the
1 2 Asbestos Litigation Reporter as one of those
1 3 progress reports?
14
A. As one of the progress reports, no.
1 5 Q. To your knowledge, has a copy of the 1943
1 6 monograph ever been located in any United States
1 7 Gypsum company file?
1 8 A. I nave never seen the 1943 monograph. I
1 9 have never been told that it was found in any United
2 0 Snates Gypsum Company file. I certainly never found 21
2 2 Q. R e f e r r in g to t r1 e 19 3 6 ag r e e me n m , does chat 2 3 agreement i nd i ca t e how 11is agree m e n t came into beirrg? 2 4 A . Well f the second pa r a g r a p h s t a t e s,r and Ir 'm
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1 reading "The general nature of these experiments
2 and the cost thereof were explained at a meeting of
3 certain brake lining manufacturers held in New York
4 City on November 19, 1936."
5 Q. Has United States Gypsum Company to your 6 knowledge ever manufactured brake linings?
7 A. No .
8 Q. And does the memorandum agreement indicate
9 the period of time that the experiments are to be
1 0 underwritten by the signatories to that agreement?
1 1 A . The next paragraph states "for a period of
1 2 three y; a r s . "
1 3 Q. And the date of the agreement is what?
1 4 A. November 20, 1936.
-
1 5 Q. And three years from that date would be 1 6 what?
1 7 A. November 20, 1939.
1 8 MR CALE: Could we excuse ourselves? I onlv
1 9 have one more question. I just want to make sure
20 that we agree to get into it. 2 1 % SPEIGHTS: You want to talk to her?
,
2 2 MR CALE: I just want to her --
2 3 MR SPEIGHTS: I'm about as liberal as anybody
2 4 I know, bun I jusr don't think it's pro: ;r to chap
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1 with the witness while you have got her under
2 examination. I can't physically stop you.
3 MR. CALE: Oh, I know. Okay. Let's just go
4 off the record for a minute.
5 MR. SPEIGHTS: Sure.
6 (WHEREUPON, discussion was had
7 off the record. )
6 BY MR. CALE:
-
S Q. Ms. Torrey, counsel has established that
1 0 at the time the answers were filed to Judge Wilkins'
1 1 notice interrogatory, the 1934 operating bulletin
1 2 with respect to dusty conditions was not identified
1 3 in the list of documents provided.
1 4 A. Yes .
-
1 5 Q. Can you tell us why that was not included
1 6 as best you can recall?
.
17
A. I didn't realize at the time I was
-
1 8 preparing the responses that that bulletin existed.
1 9 I had a paralegal assisting me and I asked that she
20 secure all the bulletins on the x-ray program, ana I
2 1 spec ifically r e c all asking her to make sure that 22 had them all and t 0 verity that w e had them all
2 3 she informed m e that we had the m all a r. d w e orod 24 t h e m .
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94
1 Looking at the '43 bulletin now, I see it
2 bears a different bulletin number and I can
A '
3 understand why it may not have been given to her
4 when she asked for all of the x-ray bulletins. 5 There was no intent on our part not tc produce it.
6 I simply had forgotten about the memo. If I had
7 known, I would have produced them irrespective of
8 the aate .
_
9 Q. Am 1 correct that as of the date of the '
1 0 answers to the notice interrogatory, united States 1 1 Gypsum had already some seven months before provided
1 2 a document showing notice certain hazards of
1 3 asbestos as early as :948?
1 4 A. Yes, and the `54 memorandum also refer re d
1 5 to in that memorandum was produced in response as to
1 6 the notice interrogatory.
1 7 Q . Turning tc 1983 when I believe you
1 8 testified that at least the documents marked as
1 9 Plaintiff's Exhibits 3 -- excuse me -- 2, 3 and 5
20 which are the letter from Mr. Brown to Mr. Offutt,
2 1 the first progress report and the Jersey City stu c>y ,
2 2 that they were returned to the Keck, firm, do you
2 3 recall that? 2 4 n7 . T_' co bc ,
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1 Q. And could you tell us why they were 2 referred to the Keck firm? 3 A. I was requested by Mr. Snell to have them
4 returned because they were Keck documents. They 5 were not documents of United States Gypsum Company 6 and he felt they belonged with the law firm. 7 Q. And I think you also testified that there
8 was no inventory prepared of those documents when
9 they were returned to the Keck firm nor any
1 0 transmittal letter nor any receipt of which you are
1 1 aware, is that correct?
i
1 2 A. That's correct.
1 3 Q. And can you tell us why no documents of
1 4 that type were prepared?
_
1 5 A. Because these were law firm documents .
1 6 being returned to the law firm as their documents, I 1 7 saw no need to retain an inventory of what of theirs
1 8 I had had previously in my possession. No
1 9 transmittal letter was prepared because we
i
2 0 frequently dealt with the firm on a telepnone basis
2 1 and that was done in this instance. They knew to*
22 expect it.
2 3 I did not ask that a receiot be prepa
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1 knew they were coming. There was no reason to
2 suggest they weren't going to make it there and
3 because they were their documents, I didn't need a
4 receipt for them.
5 Q. During the period that you were
6 responsible for or coordinating the responses to
7 discovery requests in the property damage asbestos
8 litigation, were all of the answers filed by United
9 States Gypsum Company filed in good faith and in
1 0 conformity with the legal judgment of the counsel
1 1 answering them as they interpreted the request being
1 2 made?
1 3 A. Yes.
14
Q. And finally, wi th respec t to you r
1 5 af fidavit in response to the court 's enccmpassment
1 6 interroga torv is that a truthful affidavit?
,,
1 7 A . Yes. 1 8 MR . CAGE: I have no further questions.
1 9 EXAMINATION (Resumed.)
2 0 EY MR. SPEIGHTS:
2 1 0. Ms. Torrey, interrogatory 77 in the
2 2 G r eenviile case and i n the Le x i ng ton c a
2 3 5 z ated "Did y o u *j. -- - e c t t 0 be pe r f o r m e d ,
2 4 c ; nance or r e c e
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1 tests performed by the Saranac Lake Laboratory or
2 the Trudeau Foundation relating to asbestos exposure
3 and its effect on human life, and the answer was "None
4 of which this defendant is currently aware."
5 My understanding is one reason you did not
6 reveal the Brown to Offutt letter and the first
7 progress report was based upon Mr. Snell's judgment
8 that they did not have to be produced. Is that
9 cor rect?
.
1 0 A. As I have stated it, yes.
i 1 Q. In addition to that, United States Gypsum
1 2 took the position that they did not have to reveal
1 3 such documents because they referred to animal
1 4 studies and the interrogatory referred to asbestos
1 5 exposure and its effect on human life.
1 6 A. That was a position taken at the time fhat
17
answer was drafted. That was one of the positions,
i
1 8 yes.
1 9 Q. Is that one of the positions United States
20 Gypsum took in good faith?
.
2 1 A. Y e s .
A
2 2 Q. You would agree with me, Ms. Terre y, -.hat
2 3 Saranac was not testing animals tc see the effects -
2 4 on animals, that is, we weren't trying to save the
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1 rat population of the world, were we?
2 A. 1 don't know, Mr. Speights. I have stated
3 what the position of the company was in 1983. In
4 the intervening years, it has been n:ade clear tha .
5 quote unquote semantic differences would no longer
6 be tolerated.
7 I believe that question and that answer in
8 part falls into what has now been termed semantic -
9 differences. There is nothing more I can state on
1 0 the subject .
.
1 1 Q. You would agree with me that we were
1 2 testing rats to determine ultimately the effects of
1 3 asbestos on humans?
1 4 A. I believe I previously testified that I
1 5 knew it was a rat study or guinea pigs or some '
1 6 animal and that at least in part, one of the reasons
1 7 for the study was to determine if the effect was - one
1 8 of a chemical property or a physical property.
1 9 Q. Because of our concern as to what it might i
2 0 do to human beings?
.
2 1 That would have to be the next step.
22 Q . Ms. Tor r e y , I t h ink you have testified 2 3 upo n 0X3.!?:! fi t i o n by M r . 2a 1e that y" ou provided th* e 2 4 19 4 8 bulletin 3, s ear iy a s 1 9 8 3 ?
Six.
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99
1 A Yes
2 Q. And U.S. Gypsum in fact took the position
3 with Judge Wilkins that 1948 was the earliest date
4 documented date upon which USG had notice of the
5 health effects of asbestos? 6 A. Based upon the information I had available
7 to me and which I recalled at the time, that was the
8 earliest date we could verify from company sources
9 as I have defined company sources.
1 0 Q. But the 1943 document discusses asbestos?
1 1 A . Yes, it does .
1 2 Q. The 1943 document also discusses Saranac,
1 3 doesn't it?
1 4 A. I believe it does.
-
15
Q. And the 1948 document nor the 1954
-
1 6 document discuss Saranac, do they?
,
1 7 A. Well, the '43 document talks about sending 1 8 preemployment physical information to Saranac for
1 9 evaluation. That's a different aspect of Saranac
2 0 than the '36 agreement on animal studies.
.
2 1 Q. The 1943 document at least documents th"t
22 U.S. Gypsum was using Saranac to review ins x-rays?
23 A. May I see it? 2 4 Q. Here it is.
_
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1 00
1 MR. CALE: Why don't you read it into the
2 record?
3 BY TEE WITNESS:
4 A. The '43 bulletin contains the statement,
5 "Such a medical examination," which is referring to
6 preemployment physicals, "shall include the taking
7 of chest x-rays and interpretation by Saranac
8 Laboratories as set forth in bulletin 4-5," which,
9 bulletin I believe I testified we could not then
1 0 find. Frankly, I don't know if it's ever been found.
1 1 BY MR. SPEIGHTS:
1 2 Q. And one of the reasons that you had sent
1 3 or u.S. Gypsum Company would send x-rays to Saranac
1 4 was to see if the person had a past exposure to
1 5 asoestos, correct?
1 6 A. That's a question?
17
Q . Yes. Wasn't tha: one of the reasons?
I
1 8 MR. CALE: I don't think that's a full question
1 9 BY MR. SPEIGHTS:
20 Q i'asn1 t the reason at least one of the
2 1 reasons tor sen; ing x-rays to Saranac -- strike r.tat
2 2 W ssr. 1 one of the circumstances which
2 3 x-ravs would be send to Saranac, a situation where,a 2 4 oe r so n was r.ire c r ootanriallv would be hired with
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101
1 a questionable history of exposure to asbestos?
f
2
MR. CALE: Object to that question. It's a
`
3 double question. It's the difference between
4 employees and preemployment examinations and I think 5 your question encompassed both. 6 MR. SPEIGHTS: I'll rephrase it. 7 BY MR. SPEIGHTS: 8 Q. Doesn't that bulletin require that persons
9 before they are hired who have a previous exposure'
'r
1 0 to asbestos have x-rays taken and examined by '
1 1 Saranac?
1 2 A. Let me read the bulletin. I have no
1 3 independent knowledge of the contents of the 1 4 bulletin. It states "It is recommended than before
1 5 any applicant for employment is hired, the history 1 6 of his previous employment be fully developed. if
1 7 there is a questionable history of exposure to _
1 8 asbestos or silica dust or an indicated partial lung
1 9 disabilities such as TB, the applicant should not be 20 employed until satisfactorily passing a medical 2 1 examination. Such a medical exam, i nation shall 22 include the taking of chest x-rays and their
2 3 interpretation tv Saranac Laboratories as set forth.
24
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and cdJ-*ix>cLatz< , fjn nrr
1 02
1 Q. And, again, the 1948 bulletin and the .1954 A
2 bulletin do not refer to Saranac?
3 A. It's an entirely different bulletin.
4 Q. I understand that. But the bulletins you
5 did supply in 1983 and early 1984 did not refer to
6 Saranac for whatever reason?
7 A. I!ll take your word for it that they don't
8 refer to Saranac. I don't recall that they do.
9 Q. I believe you stated upon questioning by
1 0 Mr. Cale and earlier under my questions that the,,
1 1 issue at the Lexington trial concerning the
1 2 memorandum of agreement was one of authentication?
1 3 A. I'm sorry. Would you just restate what
1 4 youjustsaid?
-
15
MR. SPEIGHTS: Read it back,
please.
'
16
(WHEREUPON, the record was read
..
17
by the reporter as requested.)
-
1 8 BY THE WITNESS:
1 9 A. Yes.
20 BY MR. SPEIGHTS;
.
2 1 Q. Did you reveal during the Lexington trial
22 that Mr. Snell had interviewed Mr. Shaver as to
2 3 whether or not that was Mr. Shaver's sic nature? ' 24
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1 03
1 argument. 2 MR. SPEIGHTS: Thank you. That's all I have. 3 Let me ask one thing just as a postscript. I really 4 don't want it as part of the deposition. Is this 5 one file now that's been furnished on the research 6 the same general format as the stack of files? 7 THE WITNESS: In general, yes. 8 FURTHER DEPONENT SAITH NOT. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 . 7 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
1 04
1 STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA )
) SS :
2 COUNTY OF C KERSHAW
)
3 STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA, COUNTY OF KERSHAW
IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
4
KERSHAW COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, )
5)
Plaintiff ,
)
6 vs .
) ) No. 85-CP-28-58
7)
W.R. GRACE AND CO. , ef al . ,
)
8 )-
Defend: nts .
)
9
1 0 I hereby certify that I have read the
1 1 foregoing transcript of my deposition given at the
1 2 time and place aforesaid, consisting of Pages 1 to
1 3 103 inclusive, and I do again subscribe and m a * e
1 4 oath that the same is a true, correct and complete
1 5 transcript of my deposition so giver, as aforesaid,
1 6 and includes changes, if any, so made by me.
,,
17
SUZANNE KAY TORREY
'
18
1 9 SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO
before me this
cay
20 of
, A.D. 1 9 8 .
21 Norarv Public
22
,
a
23
24
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1 05
1 STATE OF ILLINOIS ) ) SS :
2 COUNTY OF C 0 0 K )
_*
3 I, SUSAN M. MARTINO, a Notary Public
4 within and for the County of Cook, State of
5 Illinois, and a Certified Shorthand Reporter of said
6 state, do hereby certify:
7 That previous to the commencement of the
8 examination of the witness, the witness was duly -
9 sworn to testify the whole truth concerning the
1 0 matters herein;
...
1 1 That the foregoing deposition transcript
1 2 was reported stenographically by me, was thereafter
1 3 reduced to typewriting under my personal cirection
1 4 and constitutes a true record of the testimony given
1 5 and the proceedings had;
'
1 6 That the said deposition was taken before
1 7 me at the time and place specified;
-
1 8 That the reading and signing by the
1 9 witness of the deposition transcript was agreed upcn
2 C as stated herein;
.
2 1 That I am net a relative or employee ori
22 attorney or counsel, nor a relative or employee of
23 such attorney or counsel for any of the parties
-
2 4 hereto, nor interested directly or indirectly in the
and <^di.tociaizi., {Jnc.
.Lcclqo, iJiLinoii # (212) 72-2C57
DEPOSITION DESIGNATION OF ROBERT H. TAYLOR
Deposition Taken in School District of Independence Missouri No. 30 v. United States Gypsum Co., et al.f No. CV 84-05334 (Mo. Ci r. Ct. July 25, 1986).
i
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1 06
1 outcome of this action.
2 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I do hereunto set my
3 hand and affix my seal of office at Chicago,
4 Illinois, this ^
day of
5 1 9 86 .
6
7
8
9 Notary Public Cook C c jj r. t y , Illinois. My commission expires February 7, 1987;
10
1 1 C.S.R. Certificate No. 84-1990.
12
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