Document O3076o0xmEZxeOejwavRkBXpw

. FROM THE DESK OF .VJLLJAM R. FERRELL Viet Preslient-Stltt ~c, & S-3' ~&/ CAP CO JEN OOI3276 1M 0 CAPCO JEN 0013277 ;r.w<w '"v #*"^51** j Continued town Rage Owe- ' Wlthan average of tl aew auito filed agsinxt J-M in the country each week, the ' eqnminy hu become on* of the biggest ' lirgtU to products liability Utlgstioo, tc' cording is Michael P. Mealey of the Muley, however,' said 9,000 of fire eases -- mort-brolvtog J-M--have been cettledbefcrt they were togoto trial J-M nr oooe eo* of the world'a larg est aiheatot produces--principally at Da ManWc tadllty -- lot today production of ubeatM at tbe Masvflle plant amount* sContinued from Page One ;^,. , v . Zehner.wus*- .. School to lebilaal Medical Center In Rarilsn Township."-*' ' --The crenaalceiJ _r Three YMCA camp comsselort were - season Eridfiy.*vi(j killed early Satadsy morning when their' P*1 Mirras.' Tmtof. car veered of! Route n and burst into residents attred hr?S flames after fitting a tree a' half-mHe eommunlUes<agj west af (he Martinsville Road exit to dran.attoodtof^aw? Berasrdt Township.. -.feocnttolt. ..'.pSdqSj! . Asbestos litigation Reporter, * Ftitodel- i ' "Asbestos migiUoo to the US. rejre: sento tbe largest number of product ltobll. ' Ity aulta to history," Meiky uld. J-M it j named to moat ef the auito. '> ' Aomtding la J-M tpokeamau Neil Amelias, m of the and of July, the com: piny m a delesdut or osdefcadut la ' 1M1 oue>, *11 of which allege dimiga to lets than M percent of Its output, ac cording to plan! spokesman Johe Parts. . Many of tbe plsnt't former wotters arc claiming (hey contracted meaothelioma, eibeitciU, or other ubeftoe-related dlieeie* while employed at tbe faculty. * ' " Meaotbeucna io a relativety ran. form of lung cancer that It almoet always' linked to asbestne..Steve McQueen, the. late actor, diad of the dlseaie,' which he Police suspect that toe driver, Lyn t The cfcrwalera'viri Koeber, 1, of Ztoarrille, Ind., fell asleep ' Kocher to Newarkij$h *t the wheel while driving In the east- turning home to naan bound lane. There were ao ikid marks, University of Twfiasg* and an other can were Involved to the I e.m. accident, police said. - .. Aceecdhg.lo'.lKMe Kocher and passengers David Driscoll, Plebeni,' Koctor app) 19, of Oektos, V*., and Janlne Zcbncr, IT, while driving iltRM of Washington Township to Warren Coun which veered cafe'the ty, were pronounced deed at Somerset >M feet and hit* tree.' Medical Ocntor. into Camas.?rt* caused by tbe compeay** production of believed be contracted through fibers of : attests*. Hoc* then Ifttl cue* be beea asbetto* to clothing ho wort while goto- ' filed since Jan.1. r mobile racing. - 's* ': Reaganadmlnistratlorijp * Piled by former cmptoycea, their fam Exposure to ubestoo fibers can also ily members tod eves neighbors of J-lfi cause'ubestocis, a respiratory disease Murille plant, tbe soita alkt* that dis that leads to blockage of the baft sir eases bare been contracted thrsoih ex passages and can cause death. posure to asbestos and that for years J-M lue mesothelioma, ubestoats can and other companies purposely concealed . take years to develop before.lt might be data linking.the mineral to act diseases dtognoaad. as messtbdioroa andasbestnala. ' Some-of the sdti have sought punitive "Ibe torge number of cases against J-M damages -- mooelary awards in eseeu of has cast doubt oc bow tbe company will other damages u punishment for a wrong Sonin the onslaught of suits afalnst it committed -- because of the allegations Attorney Glaasner said, "1 would uy that J-M and other firms purposely ooo- Jobns-Msnville la in sertnia economic coaled the dangers of asbeetoe from work trouble.'* ers since the UUe. in tbe firm's 1990 Annual Report, Amarine would not comment oc the stockholders are told that "because of the allegations ol wrongdoing byJ-M. uncertainty associated with the asbcstoa- Bertram Glaisner, a New Brunswick healtb litigation, and In spile of the sub attorney, has filed two cases on behalf of stantial defenses the company believes It Tt clients seeking monetary awards from has with respect to these claims, the even J-M and other aibestoa manufacturers. tual outcome of the-aibatoabeilth 1111- He said the eases are divided into two gjtioc cannot be predicted at this time and the ultimate liability of the company first lays the ground for the legal after'application of available insurance precedent, Glaisner slid, which answers cannot be estimated with any degree of whether "asbestos caused these problems reliability." and... did Johns-Msnvllle and these other ' J-M's board of directors last month companies know it was going to cause chose to split tbe corporation Into five these condidona and (just) ut back and Continued from Page One' - which go beyond ccb$i commlttoea foend that US. totdUgenee U*>*1 agcodes spied on Americans who were, simply exercising their right to protest `. The first drift whk government policy, pertlculiriy on Viet would have ellowedtt nam and dvll righto. Willard, who spoke to a recent in terview, is playing a key role to as Inter domestic bugging .and infiltrate domestic gn ties to in effort to.fi agency task force drafting the Reagao 'administration'! revision eg Carter's Ult executive order which set rules tor US. Intelligence sgendes. Some intelligence community sources uy the new order,..- two early versions of which already have TOKYO (AP) - Ja. leaked to the press, might he ready by today nnvdtod a atSl c mid-September. . usa magnetic video dial With decisions pending, Witold would The camera Ieohs ii) not detail planned changes but said, one, hut produca elect `Where there to fieilblUty to the law, our tiny _magnetic _d_i_s_k_l_hatInclination to to give intelligence agenda trievtstonsaten rrmid more freedom ofoperation.' graphs on a prista,.;tl He laid the sew order will require developad. - ' y i fewer layers of approval before the ageo-. cia can employ some technlqua arid will ' The system was'dec dispense with tome restrictions, such u foreign press to T ' some of those on physical surveiltonce. operating subsidiary corporations. Tbe did oothlnf." move was undertaken to Improve the The second group involves settling the management of the company'a assets,'the damage claims. Starting Sept.9 fromVIconmany reported. Tbe reorganization has gone Into ef fect,'although the company'a stockholders damage els will have an opportunity to approve the be based on the individual needs and con new formation in October. ditions of the plaintiffs, they will have to Bryant D. Canute, an Old Bridge at be tried separately. Glassier said. torney, is hsrvUing shout TO lawsuits in Glaisner asserts that all ef the former volving too clients. Each case hu more J-H workers have received winter'scoca- than ooe defendant, and J-M la named In pensation for their Injuries suffered while all of them, be said. on the job. But what makes the eases In October, the first of his eases la set unique, he said, is that the workers art to go to trial before Keefe. awtinuing to seek monetary compensa Keefe's secretary, Linda Jtccoud, tion by charging the companywith fraud. said a total of 101 cases bad been filed with - The charge of fraud to based on allega the judge but four were settled either tions that J-M and other companies knew before or during trial and another S were of the dangers of asbestos but tried to transferred to U.S. District Court to Tren prevent employees and the public from ton. Saying she receives new cases each finding out shout the hassrds. - week; Jaccoud added that M hare come J-M and the other companies died for into her office since Jan. 1. the alleged conspiracy have maintained Court records show about <00 people that they were unaware of tbe hazards of live filed suit In state superior courts In working with asbestos until 1PM, when Sew Brunswick and Somerville since 107P. physicians published studies linking the Although the cases agitrut J-M are mineral to a host ol diseases, especially suilding steadily on the local level, they ubestosis and mesothelioma. ire increasing at an even luter rate on The Urge number of tulti against the the nations] level -- at least 10,000 people asbestos Industry has raised a separate terns the country hive filed lalL argument that has thrown the Insurance Attorney David Gross of Newark, who Industry Into a spin. us worked full time on J-M asbestos A separate mound of litigation has tsses for the last <tt years, heads up J- been filed by some Insurance companies d's defense In cues filed In the north-., against J-M and cm other Insurance stem region of the country. Ho said that firms. Mealey said. uries across the nation have issued moon- The arguments centeron which Insur ary swards ranging from <100,000 to (l ance company has tbe responsibility to oillioe, although the judges hire often pay off ctoirai, either the firm that Ig owered the amounts. nited the company during the time the Mealey cites a decision reached by a asbestoe-related disease was contracted ury In Missouri In June as the highest. or the current insurer. ward involving J-M. A roan ns awarded Two U.S. District Courts of Appeal 1.4 million for injuries caused by hive ruled In ftvor of the loctlled "ex shestos exposure, hesaid. posure" argument, meaning liability rests On the nstioosl level, cases have with the Insurers at the time the people one through trial and 21 have yielded were exposed to the disease. ivorahk decisions for the company, However, last month tbe U.S. Su merino said. preme Court was asked to hear appeals of ' Another J-M spokesperton, Miry the U.S. District Courts of Appeal de omeoko, said the company has "dis- cisions, which were made In New Orleans rsed" of PIS cases u of the end of March, and CtaetonitL - - he figure includes suits that hive gone "The Insurance Irifustry siys that rough trial, were settled before trial or billions o[ dollirs are at slake." Mealev CAP CO JEN 0013278