Document RjJONRZDRbnV5ww9MLq7YoNV8
CARMELO SBEZZI
IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF ALAMEDA
RONALD K. BLATT
)
AND HEIDI BLATT, Plaintiffs
vs.
)
)
) )
A.J. RAISCH PAVING CO., ET AL.,
Defendants.
) ) ) ) )
NO. RG09-445045
DEPOSITION OF CARMELO SBEZZI FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2009 10:03 A.M. - 12:45 P.M. RYAN, RYAN & DELUCA 707 SUMMER STREET STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT
- - Sandra A. Deschaine, RPR Registered Professional Reporter
Connecticut License #343
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1 APPEARANCES CONTINUED:
2
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3 ON BEHALF OF CLAYTON INDUSTRIES; INTERLINE 4 BRANDS, INC.; J.A. SEXAUER MANUFACTURING 5 CO., INC.; SULZER PUMPS HOUSTON, INC.; PACO 6 PUMPS, INC.; ZURN INDUSTRIES, INC.; ERIE 7 CITY ENERGY DIVISION; ZURN INDUSTRIES, INC.: 8 JACKSON & WALLACE
9 Ana Portillo, Esquire 10 55 Francisco Street, 6th Floor
San Francisco, California 94133
12 413.982.6300 Fax: 415.982.6700 13 aportillo@jacksonwallace.com
14
ON BEHALF OF FOSTER WHEELER, LLC, SURVIVOR 15 TO MERGER WITH FOSTER WHEELER CORPORATION; 16 NIBCO, INC, DBA CAL NIBCO: 17 BRYDON, HUGO & PARKER 18 Lisa Rickenbaher, Esq. (via telephone)
19 135 Main Street, 20th Floor 20 San Francisco, California 94105
415.808.0300 Fax: 415.808.0333 22 lrickenbacher@bhplaw.com
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1 APPEARANCES CONTINUED:
2
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3 ON BEHALF OF RILEY POWER, INC.; RILEY STOKER 4 CORPORATION; STA-RITE INDUSTRIES, LLC; 5 BERKELEY PUMP COMPANY, SAN JOSE BOILER
6 WORKS; BRUCE BARTON PUMP SERVICES: 7 FOLEY & MANSFIELD
8 Melissa Corica, Esq. (via telephone) 9 1111 Broadway, 10th Floor 10 Oakland, California 94607
11 510.590.9500 Fax: 510.590.9595 12 mcorica@foleymansfield.com
13
ON BEHALF OF RAYPAK, INC.; RHEEM 14 MANUFACTURING COMPANY: 15 VASQUEZ, ESTRADA & DUMONT, LLP 16 Megan Myers, Esq. (via telephone) 17 Courthouse Square 18 1000 Fourth Street, Suite 700 19 San Rafael, California 94901 20 415.453.0555 Fax: 415.453.0549
21 mmeyers@vandelaw.com
22
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CARMELO SBEZZI
1 INDEX
2
WITNESSES:
3
4 Carmelo Sbezzi 5 By Mr. Bosl
By Ms. Portillo
6
PAGE
8/80 79
7 EXHIBITS:
DESCRIPTION
PAGE
8
Exhibit A Notice of Taking 9 Deposition
10 Exhibit B Urgent Calendar Matter
11 Exhibit C Customer # List
12 Exhibit D Sexauer Products, 1971
9 9 16 54
13 Exhibit E Declaration of Daniel Peders
14 . Exhibit F Photograph
15
Exhibit G Declaration of Carmelo 16 Sbezzi
56 70
72
17 Exhibit H Letter dated 2/1/79 to Gaddis Engineering
18
Exhibit I Letter dated 2/1/79 to 19 Johns Manville
89 89
20 Exhibit J Letter dated 2/1/79 to Eureka Packing Company
21
Exhibit K Letter dated 2/1/79 to 22 Raybestos Manhattan
89 89
23 Exhibit L Letter dated 2/5/79 to
J.A. Sexauer
89
24
Exhibit M Letter dated 2/13/79 to
25
A.J. Schiavo
89
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1 October 1st, 2009 letter to all 2 counsel from our office rescheduling 3 the deposition of J.A. Sexauer's 4 custodian of records, person most 5 knowledgeable, to October 16, 2009. 6 (Sbezzi Exhibits A and B, Marked.) 7 MR. BOSL: And, Counsel, you 8 agree that even though we're in 9 Connecticut this proceeding is under 10 California law? 11 MS. PORTILLO: Yes. 12 BY MR. BOSL: 13 Q. Sir, we last had a chance to 14 speak in 2006. 15 Have you given any depositions 16 since that time, before today? 17 A. No. 18 Q. And have you testified at trial 19 at all since 2006? 20 A. No. 21 Q. What is your current 22 relationship with J.A. Sexauer in terms of 23 employment consulting? 24 A. I'm retired. 25 Q. Are you being paid for your time
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1 today? 2 A. Yes. 3 Q. How much? 4 A. $150 an hour. 5 Q. When were you first contacted 6 about giving a deposition today? 7 A. Sometime in the past month. 8 Q. And what have you reviewed prior 9 to testifying today, if anything? 10 A. I've reviewed my deposition in 11 2006. 12 Q. And have you reviewed any other 13 documents? 14 A. I've seen other documents. I 15 don't know if I reviewed -- did I read them 16 all? 17 Q. Yes. 18 Well, what documents have you 19 looked at for this case? 20 MS. PORTILLO: Well, it's 21 overbroad, vague. Do you mean the 22 deposition? What do you mean? 23 BY MR. BOSL: 24 Q. Well, we can start with, you 25 know, since being contacted about giving a
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1 deposition in this case, what documents have
2 you reviewed with regards to the case? 3 A. By "review," do you mean read 4 thoroughly or look at?
5 Q. Look at is fine. Either one.
6 A. Deposition of Mr. Blatt, four 7 different dates. I don't recall the dates. 8 Q. Anything else?
9 A. Not that I recall. 10 MS. PORTILLO: I think, just to
11 help remind him. I know that maybe
12 you reviewed some of these invoices
13 that we've produced in a discovery,
14 that he's reviewed for purposes of
15 this case.
16 MR. BOSL: Thank you.
17 BY MR. BOSL: 18 Q. And what was your purpose in
19 reviewing Mr. Blatt's deposition? 20 A. Just to be familiar with what he
21 said. 22 Q. And I'll represent to you that 23 Mr. Blatt's deposition was longer than four
24 days.
25
Were the selections that you
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1 were provided chosen by counsel or somebody 2 other than yourself? 3 A. Yes, it was. 4 Q. Now -- and I'm not going to get 5 into the substance of this right now. But 6 you also prepared a Declaration for this 7 case. Dc you recall that? 8 A. Yes. 9 Q. We may talk a little bit about 10 that later. 11 For the moment, have you been 12 involved in any search for documents in this 13 case? 14 A. What do you mean by "involve"? 15 Q. Well, in any way have you 16 actually looked for any documents in this 17 case? 18 A. I inquired about documents, yes. 19 Q. Who did you inquire of? 20 A. Present Sexauer employee. 21 Q. Who is that? 22 A. Her name is Anne Latore. 23 Q. And what is her position in J.A. 24 Sexauer as you understand it? 25 A. Manager of sales services.
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1 Q. Do you know how long she's been 2 with the company? 3 A. I don't know her start date, but 4 she worked for me, and she's been there over 5 twenty-five years. 6 Q. When did you speak with 7 Ms. Latore? 8 MS. PORTILLO: Well, let me just 9 object as, you know, overbroad. 10 Are you asking the first time or 11 how many times? 12 BY MR. BOSL: 13 Q. The first time that you spoke to 14 her, yes. 15 A. I don't recall the date. 16 Q. Can you estimate how many weeks 17 or months ago it was? 18 A. In the past two months. 19 Q. And how many times have you 20 spoken to her about documents? 21 A. Maybe twice. 22 Q. Can you recall when the other 23 time was? 24 A. No, I don't. 25 Q. What did you ask Ms. Latore to
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1 look for? 2 A. I asked her who was presently 3 selling - - what Sexauer salesman is 4 presently selling in the territory where San 5 Jose School District is. 6 Q. And was she able to give you a 7 name? 8 A. Yes, she gave me the name. 9 Q. And who is that? 10 A. Jack. 11 MS. PORTILLO: Jack West. 12 A. Jack West. 13 Q. Do you know how long Mr. West 14 has been a salesman for J.A. Sexauer? 15 A. I believe his starting date was 16 February of '08 to present. 17 Q. Prior to your deposition today, 18 have you spoken with anyone else from J.A. 19 Sexauer other than Ms. Latore? 20 A. No. 21 Q. How many times have you spoken 22 with counsel about your deposition, prior to 23 starting up today? 24 MS. PORTILLO: If you recall. 25 A. I don't recall the number of
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1 times. 2 Q. Did you meet with counsel this
3 morning? 4 A. Yes. 5 Q. And have you met with counsel or 6 talked to counsel about this deposition in 7 the last week?
8 A. Yes. 9 Q. How many times?
10 A. One other time. 11 Q. If you could estimate, just kind
12 of a total number, about how long you spent
13 talking to counsel about your deposition 14 today. 15 A. Too long. Scratch it from the
16 record.
17
MS. PORTILLO: I think he's just
18 asking your best estimate. If you 19 could total up the amount of time
20 we've spent talking about it, that's
21 okay . If you can't, you can't. See 22 if you can. 23 A. I would guesstimate eight to ten 24 hours, and I will bill the same. 25 Q. Have you asked Ms. Latore
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1 anything other than to get you the name of 2 the current salesman in the San Jose area? 3 A. Yes, I did. 4 Q. What did you ask her? 5 A. I asked her if she had previous 6 records to who worked the territory. 7 Q. What did she say? 8 A. There are no records available. 9 Q. Did she tell you why there 10 aren't any records? 11 A. She said they didn't keep any 12 records. 13 Q. Anything else that you asked 14 Ms. Latore for in this case? 15 A. No. 16 Q. Now, I've been handed an updated 17 sales summary for sales -- well -18 MR. BOSL: I'll mark that as 19 Exhibit C. It has approximately -20 THE WITNESS: A lot of pages. 21 They're not in numerical order. 22 (Sbezzi Exhibit C, Marked.) 23 BY MR. BOSL: 24 Q. Right. There's several sections 25 to it with multiple pages each. But it
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1 appears that the beginning -- the first page 2 has a title "SJCUST_PEARSE23." And the 3 following lists contain the same prefix with 4 numbers ending in Numbers 25, 26, 27, and a 5 couple others. 6 Sir, I understand you had a 7 chance to look at this before the 8 deposition? 9 A. This version, yes. 10 Q. Do you know who at J.A. Sexauer 11 printed this out? 12 A. No. I don't believe this came 13 from J.A. Sexauer. It came from the 14 parent company -- Interline. 15 Q. Do you know who at Interline 16 printed this out? 17 MS. PORTILLO: If you know. 18 A. I believe it's Henry Hudson. 19 Q. Do you have an understanding as 20 to what Mr. Hudson's position is at 21 Interline? 22 A. No, I don't know his title. 23 Q. Do you know what department he 24 works in or what area? 25 A. I would imagine IT area.
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1 Q. Interline is headquartered in 2 Florida; is that right? 3 A. Jacksonville. 4 Q. And I guess I should ask you, 5 have you spoken with anyone at Interline 6 about this case? 7 A. No. 8 Q. Have you had any conversations 9 with Mr. Hudson about this case? 10 A. Just to request the report. 11 Q. When did you have that 12 conversation with him? 13 A. Approximately a month ago. 14 Q. And what specifically did you 15 ask him? 16 A. If we were able to get a 17 printout of sales to this account. 18 Q. And by "this account," you mean 19 the San Jose Unified School District? 20 A. Yes, I do. 21 Q. Did you give him any years you 22 wanted him to look for? 23 A. No. 24 Q. Do you have an understanding of 25 what the information in this printout is
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1 based on? 2 A. I don't understand your
3 question. 4 Q. Where did the information that
5 went into this printout -- let me strike
6 that.
7
Is this printout a summary of
8 other documents? 9 MS. PORTILLO: Calls for
10 speculation. Lacks foundation. 11 Q. Go ahead. You can answer. 12 MS. PORTILLO: If you know. 13 A. It's a summary of tapes that 14 were made from sales records. 15 Q. And do you have an understanding
16 as to when those tapes were made? 17 A. It was my understanding the
18 tapes were made 1983 forward. 19 Q. Let me see if I understand that. 20 The tapes were made of sales 21 records -- the sales records themselves
22 started in 1983? 23 A. The tapes. 24 Q. And when the tapes were made,
25 what sales records were available to be put
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1 Q. Is that the salesman responsible 2 for that specific account? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. In Sexauer's practice, is an 5 account only called on by one salesman? 6 A. Yes. 7 Q. And that has been the practice 8 as far as back as you've been with the 9 company? 10 A. That's correct. 11 Q. Do you know Jack Cleaton? 12 A. Do I know him personally? 13 Q. Yes. 14 A. I've met him. 15 Q. Is he still with the company? 16 A. No. 17 Q. When was he with Sexauer? 18 A. I don't have his dates. 19 Q. When did you meet him? 20 A. When he was employed with 21 Sexauer. I don't recall the date. 22 Q. Do you recall the decade? 23 A. In the eighties. 24 Q. The next column is "Order#."
25 And it looks like only a few of the entries
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1 here have order numbers. Do you know why 2 that is? 3 A. That's the customer order 4 number, what they use to purchase, and there 5 doesn't need to be an order number next to 6 every line item. I would presume that when 7 there's an order number and then there's 8 none following it, all those items could 9 have been ordered under that order number. 10 Q. The next column "INVC DT." What 11 does that stand for? 12 A. I would say the invoice date. 13 Q. The entries under that column 14 don't appear to be in a standard date 15 format. 16 Do you understand what the date 17 entries under that column mean? 18 A. When you say "standard," they're 19 putting the year first and the month and 20 date following. I guess that's not 21 standard. That was deceiving to me too. 22 Q. Okay. Thank you. 23 The next column is "Item#." 24 Does the number in that column correspond 25 with the number in J.A. Sexauer's
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1 catalogue? 2 A. That's correct. That's the J .A. 3 Sexauer catalogue number for that item. 4 Q. And the next column is 5 "Quantity," and the next column is 6 "Description" of the product order. Is that 7 correct? 8 A. That seems correct. 9 MR. BOSL: Let me just ask. Do 10 I need to go through and lay the 11 foundation of this as a business 12 record, or can we stip that this 13 printout is a business record of J .A. 14 Sexauer? 15 MS. PORTILLO: Yes, we can 16 stipulate to that. 17 BY MR. BOSL: 18 Q. Is that your understanding as 19 well, that this is a business record of J.A. 20 Sexauer? 21 MS. PORTILLO: Let me clarify. 22 This printout came from Interline 23 brands, so that distinction needs to 24 be made, but it reflects sales of J.A. 25 Sexauer products.
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1 MR. BOSL: Will you stipulate 2 it's a business record of Interline 3 brands? 4 MR. McCAGHEY: And J.A. 5 Sexauer. 6 MS. PORTILLO: Yes, they own 7 that. 8 MR. BOSL: I'm trying to 9 short-circuit that. 10 MS. PORTILLO: For clarity sake. 11 MR. BOSL: That's fine. 12 BY MR . BOSL: 13 Q. Let me ask you -- I kind of 14 asked this before, and let me ask it a 15 different way, Sir. 16 You'd agree with me that the 17 first date entry in this printout is 18 February 9th, 1983? 19 A. Yes. 20 Q. Do you have any understanding 21 why there are no entries prior to February 22 9th, 1983? 23 MS. PORTILLO: Calls for 24 speculation. 25 A. No.
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1 Q. You have no information one way 2 or the other -- well, do you have any 3 information one way or another whether J.A. 4 Sexauer sold products to the San Jose 5 Unified School District prior to February 6 9th, 1983? 7 A. No, I don't. 8 Q. So if somebody saidthat the 9 school district did buy products prior to 10 February 9, 1983, just the fact of this 11 printout wouldn't give you any reason to 12 dispute that information; is that right? 13 MS. PORTILLO: I'll object to 14 improper hypothetical. Calls for 15 speculation. Compound. Lacking 16 foundation. 17 Q. Go ahead, Sir. 18 A. Would you ask thatagain, Sir, 19 please? 20 Q. Yes. 21 The fact that there are no sales 22 on this invoice prior to February 9, 1983, 23 doesn't in itself give you a reason to 24 dispute if somebody were to say that they 25 did purchase from J.A. Sexauer or prior to
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1 that date? 2 A. No, it doesn't. 3 MS. PORTILLO: Same objections. 4 Assumes facts. 5 Q. Now, you and I have spoken in 6 the past about the fact J.A. Sexauer 7 employed commission salesmen in various 8 regions throughout the country; is that 9 correct? 10 A. That's correct. 11 Q. How many salesmen did J.A. 12 Sexauer -- well, let me back up. 13 J.A. Sexauer employed commission 14 salesmen in the Bay Area; is that correct? 15 A. That's correct. 16 Q. What is the earliest date you 17 recall J.A. Sexauer employing commission 18 salesman in the San Francisco Bay Area? 19 A. The year I started, 1963. 20 Q. As far as you know, the 21 commissioned salesmen that were there in the 22 San Francisco Bay Area when you first 23 started up were not themselves just starting 24 in the Bay Area at that time, correct? 25 MS. PORTILLO: Calls for
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1 speculation. 2 A. Not necessarily. 3 Q. When you began with J.A. Sexauer 4 in 1963, who were the salesmen in the San 5 Francisco Bay Area that you can recall? 6 A. I do not recall. 7 Q. What is the earliest salesman in 8 the San Francisco Bay Area that you can 9 recall? 10 A. My early years with Sexauer was 11 in purchasing, and therefore I was not 12 totally knowledgeable of which salesmen were 13 and which territory. I can't recall 14 what year . 15 Q. Do you recall who the first 16 salesman, that you remember, being aware 17 that they were from the San Francisco Bay 18 Area? 19 A. A man called Jack Heinen. 20 Q. Can you spell that last name? 21 A. H-e-i-n-e-n. 22 Q. Do you recall when you were 23 first aware that he was in the Bay Area, 24 even if you have to estimate by decade? 25 A. I would estimate that was
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1 sometime in the seventies. 2 Q. And were there any other Sexauer 3 salesmen in the San Francisco Bay Area that 4 you recall from the 1970s? 5 A. I recall a man named Ernie 6 Kloepfel, K-l-o-e-p-f-e-l. 7 Q. Any others? 8 A. None that I recall. 9 Q. In the 1980s, can you recall any 10 of the J. A. Sexauer salesmen in the San 11 Francisco Bay Area? 12 A. In the eighties you're asking. 13 Q. Yes. 14 A. Jack Cleaton. 15 Q. Let me ask you, the salesmen 16 that are identified in Exhibit C, the 17 printout, those were all salesmen, Sexauer 18 salesman in the San Francisco Bay Area, 19 correct? 20 A. Yes, I would say so. 21 Q. Are there any names that you 22 recall that are not listed in the printout? 23 A. None that I recall. 24 Q. As I recall, the salesmen would 25 call on their various accounts and collect
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1 orders, and then call those orders into 2 Sexauer headquarters; is that correct? 3 A. That's correct procedure. 4 Q. Who would invoice the customer? 5 A. By "who," do you mean what 6 individual? 7 Q. Did the salesmen fill out any 8 kind of invoice, or did that come from the 9 home office? 10 A. Home office. 11 Q. Did the salesmen keep any 12 records of what orders the customer was 13 placing? 14 A. I would imagine they all kept 15 their own records and made it easier for 16 them to resell when they called on that 17 account again. So I can't imagine a good 18 salesman not keeping his own records. 19 Q. Did Sexauer have any policy or 20 general practice with regard to the manner 21 in which salesmen kept records of their 22 customer sales? 23 A. No. 24 Q. Were those records ever, to your 25 knowledge, transmitted to the home office?
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1 A. Not that I know of. 2 Q. Did customers ever submit 3 payment to the salesmen or through the home 4 office, as far as you know? 5 A. As far as I know, they were 6 billed by the home office and sent in their 7 payment to the home office. 8 Q. We spoke a little bit about this 9 before, I think. 10 What involvement did the 11 commission salesmen have in helping their 12 customers identify what their needs were? 13 A. That was part of the service 14 that the salesmen would give to the customer 15 to help identify proper products. The 16 plumbing industry has a huge amount of 17 products. There's no standardization, and 18 therefore, for example, a stem shuts a facet 19 on and off. 20 At one time we carried over 700 21 stems because everybody made a different 22 size and a different configuration, and 23 therefore if the salesmen could identify the 24 fixtures in a particular site, it would help 25 for reordering and getting the flow of
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1 material into them, the proper material. 2 Q. Would salesmen ever go look at 3 the particular piece of equipment or fixture 4 that needed replacement parts and help the 5 customer identify what replacement parts 6 were needed? 7 MS. PORTILLO: I'll object as 8 vague and ambiguous and overly broad. 9 Are you asking just as a general 10 practice? 11 MR. BOSL: Yes. 12 A. Yes. A salesman would help do a 13 survey on site and help the customer know 14 that they had twenty facets from this 15 manufacturer and fifteen of this, and 16 therefore they should carry some inventory 17 to have quick replacement parts. 18 Q. How did -- well, did Sexauer 19 have any kind of program or training in any 20 way to teach the salesmen how to provide 21 this advice? 22 A. The regional manager responsible 23 for that particular salesman would do any 24 type of training needed to better service 25 the ultimate -- the ultimate goal was to
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1 better service the customer. 2 Q. Did products manufacturers ever 3 provide any training to the salesmen in that 4 regard? 5 A. Not that I know of. 6 Q. Did the regional managers ever 7 receive any training or instruction from the 8 product manufacturers on replacing - 9 replacement parts and maintenance of their 10 equipment or other products? 11 A. Not that I know of. 12 Q. I guess what I'm getting at, how 13 did the regional managers know what to tell 14 the salesmen, as far as you know? 15 A. Usually the regional manager was 16 a previous salesman, and from his own 17 experience in the field, he passed his 18 knowledge on to the men that worked under 19 him. 20 Q. Do you recall the names of any 21 of the regional managers for the San 22 Francisco Bay Area? 23 A. Yes, I do. 24 Q. What are there names? 25 A. John Contos, C-o-n-t-o-s.
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1 Q. Any others? 2 A. Not that I recall at this time. 3 Q. Do you remember what years 4 Mr. Contos was the regional manager in the 5 Bay Area? 6 A. Eighties and nineties. 7 Q. I want to ask you some questions 8 now about the late 1970s and thereafter when 9 Sexauer began asking some of the product 10 manufacturers about asbestos hazards. 11 As I recall, it's true that in 12 the late 1970s Sexauer began to contact some 13 of the product manufacturers of the product 14 it sold regarding asbestos; is that 15 correct? 16 A. That's correct. 17 Q. And as I recall your testimony, 18 you recall that the product manufacturers 19 told Sexauer that products contain 20 chrysotile asbestos and were encapsulated; 21 is that correct? 22 A. That's correct. 23 Q. Did Sexauer perform any 24 follow-up or independent investigation of 25 its own, beyond asking the manufacturers or
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1 vendors? 2 A. Not that I know of. 3 Q. Did J.A. Sexauer talk to any 4 doctors about asbestos? 5 A. Not that I know of. 6 Q. Did J.A. Sexauer talk to any 7 industrial hygienist about asbestos? 8 A. Not that I know of. 9 Q. Did J.A. Sexauer have a company 10 industrial hygienist at any time? 11 A. No. 12 Q. Did J.A. Sexauer have a company 13 doctor at any time? 14 A. No. You mean employed by J.A. 15 Sexauer? 16 Q. That's correct. 17 A. No. 18 Q. Did J.A. Sexauer contract with 19 any doctors or industrial hygienist at any 20 time? 21 A. No. 22 Q. Did J.A. Sexauer have a 23 Workmen's Comp insurance carrier? 24 MS. PORTILLO: Well, just lacks
25 foundation. Calls for speculation.
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2 A. Not that I'm aware of. 3 Q. Do you know if J.A. Sexauer had
4 any Worker 's Compensation insurance?
5 MS. PORTILLO: Objection. 6 Q. I'm sorry. That's a no? 7 A. That's a no. I couldn't know
8 everything about the company. I only ran
9 different parts of it. 10 Q. I guess my question is whether
11 or not you know. Did J.A. Sexauer ask its
12 Worker's Compensation insurance any 13 questions about asbestos at any time?
14 A. Not that I know of. 15 Q. Who within the company contacted 16 the various manufacturers or vendors about
17 asbestos in the late 1970s?
18 A. The purchasing department. 19 Q. And you were head of the 20 purchasing department at that time; is that 21 right?
22 A. I did not contact them. It was
23 Anthony Schiavo. 24 Q. Were you Anthony Schiavo's boss?
25 A. Yes, I was.
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1 Q. Who did Anthony Schiavo contact? 2 MS. PORTILLO: Hold on. Just to 3 the extent that these questions have 4 been asked and answered in the 5 previous deposition in the Hogan case, 6 and we produced all of the contacts, 7 meaning the letters, and I'm just - 8 unsure if you're asking - 9 MR. BOSL: I don't recall the 10 letters being produced. 11 MS. PORTILLO: I'm not sure if 12 you're asking about, you know, how to 13 contact or what the contacts are. Can 14 you be more specific? It's vague. 15 MR. BOSL: Well, I mean, that's 16 the next question, I guess, but let me 17 back up. 18 BY MR. BOSL: 19 Q. How did Anthony Schiavo contact 20 the various manufacturers or vendors? 21 A. I would imagine he wrote them 22 letters. 23 Q. Did you ever see any of the 24 letters that he sent? 25 A. I saw the responses.
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1 Q. And first of all, who did 2 Mr. Schiavo contact, in terms of which 3 companies ? 4 A. The vendors that supplied us 5 with the material. 6 Q. Do you remember which of the 7 vendors? 8 A. Johns-Manville, Raybestos 9 Manhattan , Eureka Manufacturing, Garlock 10 Incorporated. I'm not sure about the 11 incorporated. 12 Q. Any other companies that you can 13 recall? 14 A. Not that I recall. 15 Q. Did Sexauer receive a response 16 from at least all four of those companies? 17 A. As far as I know, yes. 18 Q. I think we talked a minute ago 19 about your general understanding of what the 20 response was. 21 Did each of the four companies 22 respond, to your memory, that the product 23 contained chrysotile and was encapsulated? 24 A. Yes. 25 Q. And you saw the responses
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1 yourself; is that right? 2 A. Yes. 3 Q. At the time that -- did you see 4 the response near or at the same time that 5 Sexauer received the response? 6 A. I believe so. 7 Q. At that time, what did you 8 understand "encapsulated" to mean? 9 MS. PORTILLO: Asked and 10 answered in previous deposition. 11 A. That the fiber isn't 12 encapsulated, meaning enclosed and not 13 floating freely in the air. 14 Q. Am I correct that at some point 15 employees in the Louisville facility -- in 16 the Sexauer Louisville facility inquired of 17 Sexauer about asbestos and the products that 18 they were handling? 19 A. They brought the subject up. 20 MS. PORTILLO: I'll make an 21 objection that these questions were 22 asked and answered in the Hogan case, 23 and stipulate we had an agreement that 24 we'd stipulate to those questions and 25 answers as well. If you need to lay a
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1 foundation for the question, that's 2 fine. 3 MR. BOSL: That's what I'm 4 doing. I'm not going to belabor over 5 these points too long. 6 MS. PORTILLO: Okay. I wanted 7 to make sure. 8 BY MR. BOSL: 9 Q. And I'm sorry. When was it 10 again that they contacted the home office 11 about this issue? 12 A. I believe in the late seventies. 13 Q. Did Sexauer ever do any medical 14 screening of the employees at the Louisville 15 facility? 16 A. No. 17 Q. Are you aware of whether or not 18 Sexauer has ever received any Worker's 19 Compensation claims relating to asbestos 20 from any of its employees? 21 MS. PORTILLO: Lacks foundation. 22 Calls for the witness to speculate. 23 Beyond his scope of knowledge. 24 A. I'm not aware of it. 25 Q. If such a claim were made, who
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1 within the company would you ask to find out 2 if that had happened? 3 MS. PORTILLO: Same objection. 4 A. May I hear your question again? 5 Q. It wasn't the clearest. 6 Who within Sexauer or Interline 7 would you ask to find out whether or not any 8 employee had ever brought an 9 asbestos-related Worker's Compensation 10 claim? 11 A. I have no idea who I would go to 12 at this time. 13 Q. Did Sexauer ever provide any 14 handling instructions to its customers about 15 its asbestos products? 16 MS. PORTILLO: Assumes facts. 17 Lacks foundation. 18 A. Not that I know of. 19 Q. Did Sexauer ever put any kind of 20 warning about asbestos in its catalogues? 21 MS. PORTILLO: Same 22 objections. 23 A. No. 24 MS. PORTILLO: And it's overly 25 broad and vague.
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1 MR. BOSL: Before I move into a 2 couple other areas, why don't we take 3 a break, and I'll take a look at the 4 catalogues that you have here and go 5 from there. 6 MS. PORTILLO: Go off the 7 record. 8 (Recess taken from 11:02 a.m. to 11:10 9 a.m .) 10 MR. BOSL: Let's go back on the 11 record. 12 I spoke briefly on the break 13 with Counsel about several boxes of 14 catalogues that have been produced 15 today. Rather than attach all of the 16 catalogues to the deposition and try 17 and copy them all right now, the boxes 18 are labeled with the contents of the 19 various catalogues in each box. 20 BY MR. BOSL: 21 Q. So, Sir, if you'll indulge me, 22 I'm going to go through and just simply list 23 off which catalogues were produced today so 24 that we have a record of it. And then I 25 have a few questions I want to ask you about
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1 some of the catalogues. 2 MR. BOSL: First box here, the 3 label says, "Sexauer Master Cats 4 (old). K addition 1977 to '78. 1978 5 to '79. 1980 customer edition. 1980 6 blue sheets to 10/14/81." 7 The next box says, "Old master 8 catalogues. 1981, customer edition. 9 1983, customer edition. 1980 new 10 items. 1981 internal edition. 1981 11 blue sheets." 12 Next box. "1995 Canada master 13 catalogue; 1999, U.S. new items; 1997, 14 U.S. new items (not in 1997). 1997 15 blue sheets. 1997 U.S. new items in 16 1997. 1964 edition K. 1978 to 79 17 customer addition. 1974 U.S. cat 18 special edition. 1971 U.S. cat 50th 19 anniversary." 20 Next box, "Old master 21 catalogues. 1987 internal edition 22 catalogue. 1987 blue sheets. 1987 to 23 '89 new items. 1989 blue sheets. 24 1989 internal edition catalogue. 1989 25 new item."
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1 Next box. "Old master 2 catalogues, 1982 to '83 new items. 3 1983 internal edition. 1981 new 4 items. 1983 blue sheets. 1985 master 5 catalogue. 1985 customer edition. 6 1985 new items. And then K edition." 7 And the final box, "Old master 8 catalogues. 1992 blue sheets. 1990 9 new items. 1993 master catalogue 0-7. 10 1991 to '93 blue sheets. 1992 new 11 items." And then separated out with 12 the title "Canada, 1984 master. 1991 13 master and 1988 master." 14 And I'll simply request that 15 J.A. Sexauer and/or its counsel 16 maintain all of the catalogues 17 identified for this and future 18 litigation and make them available 19 upon request. 20 BY MR. BOSL: 21 Q. All right. Sir, with regards 22 to -- well, you're familiar with J.A. 23 Sexauer catalogues, are you not? 24 A. Yes, I am. 25 Q. Some of the catalogues I read
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1 off had the title "blue sheets." 2 What does, "blue sheets," refer 3 to? 4 A. I'm not sure. If I could see 5 one, I might be able to answer. 6 MS. PORTILLO: I'll just make a 7 record that from what has already been 8 identified, you were reading the title 9 "blue sheets" off of the exterior 10 labels. Right? 11 MR. BOSL: That's right. 12 MS. PORTILLO: Of the boxes not 13 the catalogues? 14 MR. BOSL: Right. 15 BY MR . BOSL: 16 Q. Sir, this binder I have here 17 says, "blue sheets 485 and on - not in 85 18 catalogue." 19 Some of the pages are a little 20 stuck together. 21 Sir, I'm going to hand you this 22 binder. Sir, looking at that, does this 23 refresh your memory as to what blue sheets 24 are or referred to? 25 A. I don't recall ever hearing the
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1 term. 2 Q. With regards to some of the 3 catalogues, some of them are listed as 4 internal and some of them are listed as 5 customer. 6 In general, what is your 7 understanding of the internal catalogue and 8 the customer catalogue? 9 A. Customer catalogue was a 10 loose-leaf binder where it could always add 11 pages to it, and did not have prices on it. 12 Internal would have a price sheet with it. 13 Q. Who used the internal catalogue? 14 A. People at the home office. 15 Q. Generally, what catalogue did 16 the salesmen use? 17 A. They carried similar to the 18 customers. 19 Q. With regards to some of the 20 labels on the outside of the box, it refers 21 to the "K edition." 22 What is your understanding of 23 what "K edition" means? 24 A. No particular meaning for the K. 25 Just designation.
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1 Q. Is that a term that you're 2 familiar with J.A. Sexauer using with 3 regards to some of the catalogues? 4 A. I know there's a K edition, yes. 5 Q. And do you know what the K 6 edition was used for, as opposed to an 7 internal or customer catalogue? 8 A. No difference. 9 Q. Do you know who used the K 10 edition? 11 A. Not that I know. 12 MR. BOSL: And, Counsel, can we 13 have a stipulation that any of the 14 catalogues produced are Sexauer's 15 business records? 16 MS. PORTILLO: Yes. 17 BY MR. BOSL: 18 Q. Sir, I wanted to back up and ask 19 one other question. We talked about the 20 response you got regarding the asbestos 21 content of products that you sold. 22 Were you ever informed -- well, 23 have you ever heard the word "tremolite"? 24 A. Tremolite. 25 Q. Yes.
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1 A. No, I have not. 2 Q. Have you ever heard from any 3 source that any of the products that 4 contained chrysotile that Sexauer sold were 5 contaminated with tremolite? 6 MS. PORTILLO: Lacks 7 foundation. 8 A. Not that I know of. 9 Q. Sir, as far back as 1964, did 10 Sexauer sell asbestos valve stem packing? 11 A. Yes, it did. 12 Q. What was the last or the latest 13 date that you can recall Sexauer selling 14 asbestos valve stem packing? 15 MS. PORTILLO: If you know. 16 A. I don't know. 17 Q. Did Sexauer continue to sell 18 asbestos valves stem packing in the 1980s? 19 A. It depends on if the -- when the 20 manufacturer substituted other material 21 besides the asbestos. 22 Q. Do you have any memory with 23 regard specifically to valve stem packing 24 when that transition occurred, or if it 25 occurred?
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1 A. I'd like to clarify your meaning 2 of valve stem packing, and my understanding 3 of it. 4 Q. That's fine. What's your 5 understanding of it? 6 A. Valve stem packing is what we 7 called a preformed die cut packing. It was 8 shaped for particular use in a particular 9 manufacturing use. 10 Q. You and I are about on the same 11 page. 12 And it's your understanding that 13 that was manufactured with asbestos and 14 sold -- or that Sexauer sold an asbestos 15 version of valve stem packing as far back as 16 1964? 17 A. That's correct. 18 Q. Do you recall one way or another 19 whether or not Sexauer continued to sell 20 that product in the 1980s? 21 MS. PORTILLO: Asked and 22 answered. 23 A. I believe by that time all the 24 manufacturers had switched, and we were 25 buying whatever material was available. We
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1 didn't specify the material as much as what 2 they supplied. 3 Q. And I'm going to go through a 4 list of a few items, and basically ask you 5 the same questions about those, in brief. 6 You're familiar with Sexauer 7 selling graphite asbestos packing; is that 8 correct? 9 A. Graphite asbestos packing, yes. 10 Q. And did Sexauer sell that in 11 1964? 12 A. Yes, it did. 13 Q. And your understanding is 14 Sexauer continued to sell it until the 15 manufacturer stopped making graphite 16 asbestos packing; is that right? 17 A. There was a change from graphite 18 asbestos packing to Teflon asbestos packing, 19 as Teflon came onto the market. It made for 20 a superior packing. In that graphite, when 21 you touched it, you dirtied your hands with 22 the blackness of the graphite. 23 Q. Do you recall when the 24 Tefloncame more prevalent than graphite? 25 A. In the seventies. Teflon became
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1 a household word and started with the pots 2 and pans. 3 MS. PORTILLO: Answer the 4 question. Okay. 5 BY MR. BOSL: 6 Q. With Teflon asbestos packing, is 7 it your understanding that Sexauer continued 8 to supply that until the asbestos version of 9 that product was no longer available? 10 A. Yes. 11 Q. And same question with regards 12 to asbestos sheet gaskets. J.A. Sexauer 13 sold asbestos sheet gaskets in 1964; is that 14 correct? 15 A. That's correct. 16 Q. And same question, your 17 understanding is that Sexauer continued to 18 sell that product until the asbestos version 19 was no longer available? 20 A. That's correct. 21 Q. You're familiar with a product 22 called Oakham, White Oakham? 23 A. No, I'm not. 24 Q. So you're not sure whether or 25 not J.A. Sexauer sold asbestos White Oakham;
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1 is that correct? 2 A. I never heard that term. 3 Q. With regards to -- you're 4 familiar that J.A. Sexauer sold asbestos 5 lead joint runners? 6 A. Yes. 7 Q. Did Sexauer sell the asbestos 8 joint runners in 1964? 9 A. Yes. 10 MS. PORTILLO: I'll just object 11 to the questions about the joint 12 runners as irrelevant and lacking 13 foundation. 14 BY MR. BOSL: 15 Q. And is it your understanding 16 that Sexauer continued to sell that product 17 until asbestos joint runners were no longer 18 available? 19 A. That's correct. 20 Q. And Sexauer sold preformed 21 asbestos gaskets in 1964, correct? 22 A. Yes. 23 Q. And Sexauer continued to sell 24 those until they were no longer available? 25 A. In that material?
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1 Q. Yes. 2 A. Yes. 3 Q. And Sexauer sold asbestos 4 washers in 1964, correct? 5 A. The term "washers" is very 6 broad. I don't understand it. 7 Q. I mean, I can show you a 8 catalogue if that would help your memory, 9 refresh your memory. 10 MS. PORTILLO: What is your 11 understanding of a "washer"? 12 THE WITNESS: When I hear 13 "washer," I think of a rubber product 14 that goes on the end of a stem, and I 15 think you may be referring it to a 16 gasket material too. 17 BY MR. BOSL: 18 Q. In haste, I didn't grab the one 19 I marked up. 20 Sir, I'm not going to attach the 21 entire document, but I'll hand you just a 22 couple of pages. The first page, you'd 23 agree this is the 1971 J.A. Sexauer 24 catalogue? 25 MS. PORTILLO: Well --
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1 Q. A copy of it? 2 A. A copy of the cover, yes. 3 Q. Okay. And the following page I 4 handed you -- I'm sorry. If I could grab 5 that back from you. 6 The first page says, "Sexauer 7 Products 1971." The top of it is marked 8 "Hogan" in the left-hand corner, and in the 9 right-hand corner "P170." 10 And the second page I've been 11 handed is marked "Hogan" in the left-hand 12 corner, and in the right-hand corner "P188." 13 Sir, if I can see that, I'll 14 direct your attention. 15 If you look at the lower 16 left-hand corner, Sir, there's quite a 17 few -- well, there's a number of entries 18 that show asbestos washer. Do you see 19 that? 20 A. Yes. 21 Q. And is it your understanding 22 that Sexauer sold those products in 1964? 23 A. Yes. 24 Q. And is it your understanding 25 that Sexauer continued to sell those
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1 products until the asbestos version was no 2 longer available? 3 A. Yes. 4 MR. BOSL: I guess we should 5 mark these two pages as Plaintiffs' 6 D. 7 MS. PORTILLO: For the record, 8 since we're having them marked as an 9 exhibit, they'll speak for themselves. 10 Just to clarify Counsel's 11 representation of a number. I see 12 one, two -- approximately four out of 13 the thirty or so that are marked as 14 asbestos washers. But the document 15 will be attached so that will be part 16 of the record. 17 THE WITNESS: May I just 18 clarify, perhaps, our difference in 19 the terminology? 20 I consider this cap thread 21 gaskets. But they are referred to as 22 washers here. But in my vocabulary, 23 when you say "washers," I don't think 24 of these. 25 (Sbezzi Exhibit D, Marked.)
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1 BY MR. BOSL: 2 Q. So let me clarify my questions 3 before then. Is it your understanding that 4 Sexauer sold asbestos cap thread gaskets in 5 1964? 6 A. Yes. 7 Q. And is it your understanding 8 that Sexauer continued to sell cap thread 9 gaskets until they were no longer available? 10 A. Yes. 11 Q. Finally, you're familiar with a 12 product called "asbestos wicking"? 13 A. Yes. 14 Q. And is it your understanding 15 Sexauer sold asbestos wicking in 1964? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. And is it your understanding 18 that Sexauer continued to sell asbestos 19 wicking until the asbestos wicking was no 20 longer available? 21 A. Yes. 22 MR. BOSL: Counsel, if you want 23 to take a look at this for a moment. 24 MS. PORTILLO: Okay. I have not 25 seen this document before, so I'm
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1 going to have to review it really 2 quickly before you ask questions on 3 it. 4 MR. BOSL: That's fine. 5 (Pause in proceedings.) 6 MR. BOSL: Unfortunately, I have 7 only one copy of this as well. 8 MS. PORTILLO: That's fine. 9 MR. BOSL: I'm going to go ahead 10 and attach this and the various 11 documents associated with it as 12 Plaintiffs' E. It's the June 20, 2008 13 Declaration of Daniel Peders, 14 P-E-D-E-R-S, authenticating asbestos 15 photographs. 16 MS. PORTILLO: I'll just make an 17 objection to the exhibit as lacking 18 foundation, and authentication, and 19 irrelevant. 20 (Sbezzi Exhibit E, Marked.) 21 BY MR. BOSL: 22 Q. Sir, I want to show you this 23 first picture. I guess we'll call this 24 Exhibit E, sub one. And can you tell me if 25 you recognize what the picture depicts?
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1 A. A metal container containing 2 valve stem packing. 3 Q. And it has the Sexauer name on 4 it; is that correct? 5 A. That's correct. 6 Q. Have you seen a canister like 7 that before? 8 A. Yes. 9 Q. And that was in your employment 10 as a Sexauer employee? 11 A. Yes. 12 Q. And you would agree with me that 13 that is the label that Sexauer used on valve 14 stem packing? 15 MS. PORTILLO: Real broad as to 16 time. Lacks foundation. 17 Q. At some point -- and we'll get 18 into the when in a moment. 19 A. Yes. 20 Q. And when do you recall that 21 being the label on Sexauer valve stem 22 packing? 23 A. From the sixties on, or when I 24 started working with Sexauer. 25 Q. Have you ever used valve stem
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1 packing yourself? 2 A. I'm not a plumber. 3 Q. So that's a no? 4 A. No. I'm sorry. 5 Q. And I'll hand you the next page 6 which we' ll mark as Exhibit E, sub two, and 7 I'm going to put a little two in the bottom 8 right-hand corner to that extent. 9 Would you agree with me that on 10 the canisters of valve stem packing that you 11 saw, that 's what the top of the canisters 12 looked like? 13 A. Yes. This is a different view 14 of the same product. 15 Q. And I want to reference in the 16 left and in the middle of the top of the 17 canister, sub two there -- right here. 18 There's a little logo there or slogan of 19 some sort . If you could read that for me. 20 A. "The Make Tight Stay Tight 21 line." 22 Q. Was that a Sexauer line of 23 products. 24 A. It was more of a logo that was 25 used in some cases. Sexauer liked to use
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1 logos to distinguish their products from
2 others.
3
For example, as you can see on
4 the boxes, we call this Mule Kick, and that 5 designated the power of the products were as 6 strong as a mule could kick. And they 7 were -- we sold products like sodium 8 hydroxide, which is your Drano, and
9 sulphuric acid to clean out fixtures that 10 were clogged up, and therefore they liked
11 these catchy names. 12 Q. The Make Tight Stay Tight logo 13 is a J.A. Sexauer logo; is that right?
14 A. Yes, as far as I know. 15 Q. Do you recall when that logo was 16 used?
17 A. When was it first used? 18 Q. Yes. 19 A. It was there when I started in
20 '63. It might have started before. I don't 21 know. 22 Q. How long was that logo used by
23 Sexauer as far as you know?
24 A. I don't know. 25 Q. Do you recall Sexauer using that
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1 logo in the seventies? 2 A. Yes. 3 Q. Do you recall Sexauer using that 4 logo in the eighties? 5 A. I don't recall. 6 Q. I'm going to hand you the next 7 picture, which I'll mark with a three in the 8 bottom right-hand corner. It appears to be 9 the canister opened up. 10 Have you ever seen Sexauer valve 11 stem packing, not just the canister but the 12 product itself? 13 A. Only on the canister. 14 Q. Have you seen a canister opened 15 up before? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. Would you agree with me that in 18 the third picture there, that's what the 19 valve stem packing looks like that you had 20 seen previously? 21 MS. PORTILLO: I'm going to 22 object as lacking foundation, picture, 23 and the use of this picture to assert 24 that this is the depiction of valve 25 stem packing at the time Mr. Sbezzi
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1 saw it. 2 This is a picture of something. 3 We have no idea when the picture was
4 taken, or how long ago this product
5 was manufactured or anything like
6 that. So I think the representation 7 of its appearance at the time is
8 distorted and this particular 9 picture -- we just object on that
10 basis. 11 BY MR . BOSL: 12 Q. Sir, does what you see in that
13 picture look the same as what you saw when 14 you saw a Sexauer valve stem canister
15 opened?
16
MS. PORTILLO: Objection to the
17 term, the same, vague and ambiguous.
18 A. Appears to be. 19 Q. Is there anything different
20 about what's in that picture from what you
21 saw when you saw J.A. Sexauer valve stem 22 packing canister opened up?
23 A. The only thing I would comment
24 on is the strands that are coming out of 25 here are darker than what that material is.
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1 I just don't know if that's a continuation 2 of this material. 3 Q. And you're talking about the 4 material that looks to be on the very end of 5 the spool there; is that correct? 6 A. Being darker. 7 Q. Yes. Okay. 8 But the rest of the material 9 that's on the spool in the canister looks 10 the same as the valve stem packing that you 11 saw when you saw a Sexauer valve stem 12 canister opened; is that correct? 13 MS. PORTILLO: Same objections. 14 Overly broad. 15 A. Appears to be. 16 BY MR. BOSL: 17 Q. Do you recall when you saw a 18 Sexauer valve stem packing canister opened? 19 A. No, I do not. 20 Q. I'm going to show you the last 21 picture, which is of something completely 22 different. 23 The words on the picture, sub 24 four, are "Sexauer Rebuilding Kit." 25 Sir, have you seen Sexaeur
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1 rebuilding kits in the past? 2 A. Yes, I have. 3 Q. Does this appear,based on your 4 experience having seen Sexauerrebuilding 5 kits in the past, does what's in that 6 picture appear to be a Sexauer rebuilding 7 kit? 8 MS. PORTILLO: Same objections 9 as before. Vague and ambiguous as to 10 time. Lacks foundation. 11 A. There was maybe fifty or more 12 different types of kits. This appears to be 13 like one of them. 14 Q. It has that same Make Tight Stay 15 Tight logo on it; is that correct? 16 A. That's correct. 17 MS. PORTILLO: Well, I'll just 18 object as to misstating or 19 misrepresenting. Vague and 20 ambiguous. 21 BY MR. BOSL: 22 Q. And, Sir, the wording on the 23 picture says that it's a rebuilding kit for 24 Crane Concord mix valve; is that correct? 25 A. Yes, Sir, it is.
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1 Q. Based on your experience, did 2 Sexauer make rebuilding kits -- I'm sorry. 3 Did Sexauer supply rebuilding kits for Crane 4 Concord mix valves? 5 A. Again, I don't recall each and 6 every kit. I would say yes, seeing this. 7 Q. With regards to the rebuilding 8 kits that Sexauer supplied, who assembled 9 the rebuilding kits? 10 MS. PORTILLO: Lacks foundation. 11 Calls for speculation. 12 A. By "assemble," who put them 13 together? 14 Q. Yes. 15 A. The people in the Sexauer 16 warehouse. 17 Q. So am I right -- Sexauer would 18 take various parts and put them together in 19 a rebuilding kit? 20 A. That's correct. 21 Q. How did the warehousemen know 22 what products to put into what rebuilding 23 kit? 24 MS. PORTILLO: Same 25 objections.
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1 A. They were told each kit had 2 different parts, and that's how they knew 3 what to put in. 4 Q. Where did that information come 5 from? 6 A. I do not know. 7 Q. Did Sexauer compile its -- or 8 assemble -- I guess I'll say assemble -- its 9 rebuilding kits based on information from 10 the equipment manufacturer that the 11 rebuilding kit was for? 12 MS. PORTILLO: Calls for 13 speculation. Lacks foundation. 14 MR. TANDBERG: Objection. 15 Foundation. Leading. Vague and 16 ambiguous. Thank you. 17 MR. BOSL: I can lead an adverse 18 witness, anyway. 19 Q. Go ahead, Sir. 20 A. Would you mind asking the 21 question again? 22 MR. BOSL: Actually, maybe the 23 court reporter can read it back to 24 you. That would be the easiest way. 25 THE COURT REPORTER: "Did
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1 Sexauer compile its -- or assemble -2 I guess I'll say assemble -- its 3 rebuilding kits based on information 4 from the equipment manufacturer that 5 the rebuilding kit was for?" 6 A. Not that I know of. 7 Q. How did Sexauer determine what 8 products went into a rebuilding kit? 9 A. I could only speculate. 10 Q. Who within Sexauer was in charge 11 of determining what product to or what 12 products to put into a rebuilding kit? 13 A. I do not know. 14 Q. Who did the warehousemen answer 15 to? 16 A. Warehouse manager. 17 Q. Which warehouse assembled and 18 packaged the rebuilding kits? 19 A. What period of time? 20 Q. The Louisville plant was opened 21 at a later time; am I right with that? 22 A. Yes. 23 Q. When did the Louisville plant 24 open? 25 A. I believe in the eighties. I
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1 don't have a date. 2 Q. And prior to -- prior to 3 Louisville opening, remind me again where 4 the only warehouse was for Sexauer? 5 A. Ten Hamilton Avenue, White 6 Plains, and that's up in '63. Prior to ' 63 7 Sexauer was located in the Bronx. 8 Q. After the Louisville plant 9 opened, the White Plains facility continued 10 to operate; is that correct? 11 A. Yes, that's correct. 12 Q. So up until the point -- from 63 13 until the Louisville plant opened, were all 14 of the rebuilding kits put together at the 15 White Plains facility? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. After the Louisville facility 18 opened, where were the rebuilding kits 19 assembled? 20 A. Both places. 21 Q. Who was the warehouse manager at 22 the Louisville plant when it opened? 23 A. Tom Imperato, I-m-p-e-r-a-t-o, 24 Junior. 25 Q. How long did he remain the
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1 warehouse manager in Louisville? 2 A. I believe sometime in the middle 3 nineties. And the warehouse manager in 4 White Plains was -5 Q. Let me ask you the question. 6 MS. PORTILLO: Wait until he 7 asks you the question. 8 BY MR. BOSL: 9 Q. Who was the warehouse manager 10 when White Plains started in 1963? 11 A. Tom Imperato, Senior. 12 Q. How long did Mr. Imperato, 13 Senior, remain the manager there in White 14 Plains?
15 A. He was there when I started in 16 '63, and I believe until the late seventies. 17 Q. Who took over for him at White 18 Plains? 19 A. I believe White Plains was 20 closed down before he left, the warehouse 21 portion. 22 Q. When did the White Plains 23 warehouse portion close down? 24 A. In the seventies. 25 Q. After the warehouse portion of
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1 the White Plains facility closed down, the 2 rebuilding kits were still assembled in 3 White Plains; is that correct? 4 A. Just repeat the first part of 5 your question. 6 Q. After the White Plains warehouse 7 was closed down in the late seventies, did 8 White Plains continue to assemble rebuilding 9 kits? 10 A. No. 11 Q. When White Plains closed down, 12 was Louisville already up and running? 13 A. Yes. 14 Q. So after the White Plains 15 facility closed down, the warehouse closed 16 down, were all rebuilding kits made at the 17 Louisville plant? 18 A. Yes. 19 Q. How long, if any, was there an 20 overlap where both facilities were 21 assembling rebuilding kits? 22 A. Might have been a two- to 23 three-year period. 24 Q. I want to hand you what I'll 25 have marked as Plaintiffs' next in order. I
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1 believe it's F. 2 (Sbezzi Exhibit F, Marked.) 3 BY MR. BOSL: 4 Q. Sir this is another picture. 5 MR. BOSL: And I'll simply state 6 for the record that it's an attachment 7 to the Pedrazzi deposition in this 8 case. 9 Take a look at Exhibit F. Would 10 you agree with me that that's the J.A. 11 Sexauer Make Tight Stay Tight line logo? 12 A. Yes, it is. 13 Q. To your knowledge, did any 14 company other than J.A. Sexauer use the Make 15 Tight Stay Tight logo, at any time? 16 MS. PORTILLO: Calls for 17 speculation. 18 A. Not that I know of. 19 Q. Based on your experience working 20 for Sexauer, do you recall seeing the Make 21 Tight Stay Tight logo on gaskets that J.A. 22 Sexauer supplied? 23 A. No, I did not. 24 Q. I'm trying to figure out the 25 best way to answer this.
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1 Do you have any information that 2 it was not put on J.A. Sexauer gasket 3 material? In other words, do you know 4 either way whether the Make Tight Stay Tight 5 logo was put on J.A. Sexauer gasket 6 material? 7 A. Not that I know of. 8 Q. Sir, I want to ask you briefly 9 about what I'll attach as Exhibit G, which 10 is the Declaration of Carmelo Sbezzi. Am I 11 pronouncing your name right? 12 A. Very close. Sbezzi. 13 Q. The Declaration of Carmelo 14 Sbezzi in support of J.A. Sexauer's Motion 15 for Summary Judgment and/or Summary 16 Adjudication, dated September 21st, 2009. 17 Sir, I'll hand this to you. 18 That's your signature on the bottom; is that 19 correct? 20 A. Yes, it is. 21 Q. And do you recall signing that 22 Declaration? 23 A. Yes, I do. 24 Q. If I can grab that back from you 25 for one second. I'm sorry.
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1 MR. BOSL: Before we move on, 2 why don't I have you mark this one so 3 it doesn't get lost. 4 (Sbezzi Exhibit G, Marked.) 5 BY MR. BOSL: 6 Q. Sir, with regard to Exhibit G, I 7 want to ask you -- I've circled one of the 8 paragraphs here. 9 Am I correct you state in the 10 deposition, "All of the products and 11 materials J.A. Sexauer sold that contained 12 asbestos did not produce dust." 13 Did I read that correct? 14 MS. PORTILLO: You said 15 deposition. You mean Declaration? 16 MR. BOSL: I'm sorry, 17 Declaration, yes. 18 A. You read it correctly. 19 Q. Sir, what's the basis of the 20 statement you made there in the Declaration? 21 A. On the basis that I had 22 knowledge that the fiber was encapsulated, 23 that it would not create dust when cut. 24 Q. And your understanding of the 25 fact that these products were encapsulated
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1 is based on your memory of what the various 2 manufacturers wrote in response to Sexauer's 3 inquiry? 4 A. That's correct. 5 Q. Do you have any background in 6 industrial hygiene yourself? 7 A. No. Thank you. 8 Q. And do you have any background 9 in material science? 10 A. No. 11 Q. And have you received any 12 scientific training of any sort? 13 A. No. 14 Q. So am I right, your 15 understanding -- I'm sorry. If I'm 16 paraphrasing incorrectly, please correct me. 17 But my understanding of your 18 statement then, in Number 7, is that what 19 you mean there is that the asbestos products 20 J.A. Sexauer sold were encapsulated, to your 21 understanding; is that correct? 22 A. That's correct. 23 Q. Now, you have in the past seen a 24 study that Dr. Arthur Langer did of some 25 Sexauer products; is that right?
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1 MS. PORTILLO: Assumes facts. 2 A. I've heard of it. 3 Q. Am I correct that you heard that 4 he did find some release of dust from 5 asbestos products? 6 MS. PORTILLO: Well, lacks 7 foundation. Assumes facts. He's 8 testified he heard of the study, and 9 has not reviewed the study or at least 10 that hasn't been established, so 11 foundation. 12 BY MR. BOSL: 13 Q. Did you ever read the Arthur 14 Langer study? 15 A. No. 16 Q. And what was your understanding 17 of what Dr. Langer found? 18 MS. PORTILLO: Assumes facts. 19 Calls for speculation. 20 A. It was my understanding that the 21 Sexauer products that contained asbestos did 22 not emit any asbestos fiber less than what's 23 found in ambient air. 24 MS. PORTILLO: Did you mean more 25 than?
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1 THE WITNESS: Did not. 2 MS. PORTILLO: It didn't emit. 3 MR. BOSL: The court reporter 4 can read it back. 5 THE COURT REPORTER: "It was my 6 understanding that the Sexauer 7 products that contained asbestos did 8 not emit any asbestos fiber less than 9 what's found in ambient air." 10 THE WITNESS: Did not emit any 11 more than was found. Off the 12 record. 13 MR. McCAGHEY: No. Not off the 14 record. 15 MS. PORTILLO: We're on the 16 record. 17 A. On the record. 18 BY MR . BOSL: 19 Q. I'll ask you some questions, and 20 we'll go from there. Okay. 21 MR. BOSL: Actually, we haven't 22 taken a break in a little while. Why 23 don't we go ahead and take a break. 24 MS. PORTILLO: Okay. Off the 25 record.
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1 (Off-the-record discussion.) 2 (Recess taken at 12:10 p.m. to 12:12 p.m.) 3 BY MR. BOSL: 4 Q. Sir, I only have a few more 5 questions. I did want to ask you one other 6 question about Exhibit F. And I'm sorry. 7 On the very bottom it's somewhat faded, but 8 on the bottom of the logo there, would you 9 agree that says "J.A. Sexauer"? 10 A. Yes. 11 Q. That was my only question. 12 Sir, do you have any memory of 13 J.A. Sexauer recalling any of its 14 products? 15 A. No, I do not. 16 Q. Would you agree with me that 17 it's good business practice that if a 18 product proved to cause serious bodily harm, 19 it would be good business practice for the 20 company selling that to warn the customer? 21 MS. PORTILLO: The question 22 assumes facts. It's an incomplete 23 hypothetical, and it's lacking 24 foundation, and argumentative. 25 Q. Go ahead.
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1 A. May I hear the question again, 2 please? 3 THE COURT REPORTER: "Would you 4 agree with me that it's good business 5 practice that if a product proved to 6 cause serious bodily harm, it would be 7 good business practice for the company 8 selling that to warn the customer?" 9 A. That sounds very logical. 10 BY MR. BOSL: 11 Q. Was there ever a time that J.A. 12 Sexauer issued any kind of warning about any 13 matter to its customers? 14 MS. PORTILLO: Overly broad as 15 to time. Vague and ambiguous. 16 Assumes facts. 17 A. Not that I know of. 18 Q. Let me just explore one little 19 other area. 20 Sir, the responses -- the 21 letters that J.A. Sexauer sent to the 22 manufacturer of its products in the late 23 1970s about asbestos, do you know if copies 24 of those letters have been maintained at 25 Sexauer?
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1 MS. PORTILLO: Calls for 2 speculation. 3 A. Not that I know of. 4 Q. Do you know if Sexauer kept the 5 letters in response? 6 MS. PORTILLO: Same objection. 7 A. Not that I know of. 8 Q. Have you conducted any search 9 for those documents? 10 A. No. 11 MR. BOSL: I think I'm done. 12 I'm going to reserve my right. I'm 13 going to ask Sexauer to conduct an 14 investigation, if it hasn't been done 15 already, for the letters to the 16 manufacturers and the response 17 thereto. I think it's clearly asked 18 for in our notice, and I'll reserve my 19 right to ask questions once they're 20 produced, if they exist. 21 MR. BOSL: Other than that, 22 though. I think we can go off the 23 record. 24 MS. PORTILLO: Hold on. I have 25 some questions, just very few and
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1 other people may. I don't know. 2 EXAMINATION 3 BY MS. PORTILLO: 4 Q. I just have a few questions for 5 you, Mr. Sbezzi. 6 Did you ever know or have any 7 knowledge that any of the products that 8 Sexauer supplied at any time ever caused or 9 could cause anyone serious bodily harm. 10 MR. BOSL: Calls for medical and 11 expert opinion. 12 A. No, I did not. 13 Q. And you testified earlier about 14 this Make Tight Stay Tight line logo that 15 Counsel had asked you questions about in 16 Exhibit F. 17 Do you recall that? 18 A. Yes. 19 Q. Did Sexauer ever put that logo 20 on any sheet gasket or gasket material? 21 MR. BOSL: Lack of foundation. 22 A. Not that I ever saw. 23 Q. And is it true that that 24 particular logo is not associated with any 25 particular product line or a product that
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1 Sexauer sold? 2 MR. BOSL: Vague and 3 ambiguous. 4 A. That's correct. 5 MS. PORTILLO: Those are all my 6 questions. I would like to go off the 7 record before we officially conclude 8 the deposition. 9 MR. BOSL: I did have one or two 10 follow-up questions based on your 11 questions, if we could do that. 12 FURTHER EXAMINATION 13 BY MR. BOSL: 14 Q. Sir, the Make Tight Stay Tight 15 logo was associated with J.A. Sexauer, 16 right? 17 A. Yes. 18 Q. And not with any other company 19 that you're aware of, correct? 20 A. Not that I know of. 21 MS. PORTILLO: Asked and 22 answered. 23 MR. BOSL: Okay. That's fine. 24 We can go off the record for a moment. 25 (Recess taken at 12:19 p.m. to 12:26 p.m.)
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1 MR. BOSL: We'll go back on the 2 record then. 3 I've been handed by counsel the 4 letters that I referenced a few 5 moments ago. We'll go ahead and 6 attach them. 7 Plaintiffs' H will be the 8 February 1st, 1979 letter from A.J. 9 Schiavo to Gaddis Engineering Company. 10 Plaintiffs' I is the February 11 1st, 1979 letter from A.J. Schiavo to 12 Johns-Manville Sales Corporation. 13 Plaintiffs' J is the February 14 1st, 1979 letter from A.J. Schiavo to 15 Eureka Packing Company. 16 And Plaintiffs' K is the 17 February 1st, 1979 letter from A.J. 18 Schiavo to Raybestos Manhattan, Inc. 19 Plaintiffs' L is the February 20 5th, 1979 letter from Frank Gaddis of 21 the Gaddis Engineering Company to A.J. 22 Schiavo. 23 Plaintiffs' M is the February 24 13, 1979 letter on Johns-Manville 25 letterhead to A.J. Schiavo. The
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1 signature is somewhat indiscernible, 2 but the letterhead has the name Edmond 3 M. Fenner. 4 Plaintiffs' N is the February 5 22, 1979 letter from B. King of the 6 Eureka Packing Company to A.J. 7 Schiavo. 8 And finally, Plaintiffs' O is 9 the April 5, 1979 letter from J.W. 10 Murray of RM Industrial Products 11 Company to J.A. Sexauer, Inc., 12 Mr. Schiavo. 13 BY MR . BOSL: 14 Q. Let me ask collectively, Sir 15 about Exhibits H through K, if you'll take a 16 look. 17 Are these the letters that you 18 reference or copies of the letters that you 19 reference that Mr. Schiavo sent about 20 asbestos to the four entities? 21 A. Yes. 22 Q. And you recognize all of those 23 letters as being on J.A. Sexauer letterhead? 24 A. Yes. 25 Q. And you would agree that
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1 Mr. Schiavo sent those letters in the course 2 of J.A. Sexauer's ordinary business? 3 A. What does "ordinary" mean? 4 Q. It was part of their business 5 practice -- it was part of their conducting 6 business that Mr. Schiavo sent these 7 letters; is that right? 8 A. Yes. 9 Q. And the subject line on all four 10 of those letters is "Asbestos Packing"; is 11 that correct? Under the address there's a 12 line that says, "Subject: Asbestos 13 Packing, " right? 14 A. I just want to look at all four. 15 (Witness reviewing document.) 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. Are you aware of any letters 18 that Mr. Schiavo ever sent, or anyone at 19 Sexauer ever sent, asking about any other 20 asbestos productS other than just packing to 21 the manufacturers? 22 MS. PORTILLO: Well, the 23 question assumes facts, and it's vague 24 and ambiguous. Lacks foundation. 25 A. Not that I know of.
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1 Q. For example, are you aware of 2 anyone at J.A. Sexauer ever writing to a 3 manufacturer about asbestos gaskets? 4 A. Not that I know of. 5 Q. Am I correct, you did see the 6 response from the various manufacturers as 7 they came in to Sexauer; is that correct? 8 A. Back in the seventies? 9 Q. Yes. At the time. That's 10 correct? 11 A. Yes. 12 Q. And I'm going to hand you 13 collectively Exhibits L through O. 14 Are these the responses that you 15 recall receiving from the four companies? 16 A. May I read them first? 17 Q. You may. 18 (Witness reviewing documents.) 19 MR. BOSL: While he's reading 20 them, rather than going through the 21 questioning, can we agree that J.A. 22 Sexauer received these letters in its 23 ordinary course of business? 24 MS. PORTILLO: Yes. 25 A. May I hear the question again,
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1 please?
2
3
MR. BOSL: May you read it back? THE COURT REPORTER: "Are these
4 the responses that you recall 5 receiving from the four companies"?
6 THE WITNESS: Yes. 7 MS. PORTILLO: And by "you," you 8 mean J.A. Sexauer received? 9 MR. BOSL: Yes.
10 MR. BOSL: Well, let me clarify. 11 BY MR. BOSL: 12 Q. You recall that when you read
13 the responses from the companies in 1979,
14 these letters are what you read; is that
15 correct? 16 A. I'd have to assume that because 17 they are addressed to the -- to us at the
18 time, and I have no knowledge of them being
19 otherwise . 20 Q. And this corresponds with what
21 you remember those letters saying in 1979?
22 A. Yes, it does. 23 Q. J.A. Sexauer sold Eureka 24 packing; is that correct? 25 A. Products from Eureka Packing.
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1 Q. And the products that they sold 2 were packing -- or was packing; is that 3 correct? 4 A. Yes. 5 Q. Were there any other products 6 that J.A. Sexauer -- let me back up. 7 Were there any other asbestos 8 products that J.A. Sexauer sold that were 9 manufactured by Eureka other than packing? 10 A. Not that I know of. 11 Q. The letter from Raybestos 12 Manhattan, Exhibit O, references valve 13 rings. 14 Is it your understanding that 15 valve rings is a type of packing? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. So with regards to the 18 Johns-Manville, Eureka and asbestos letters, 19 do you understand them to make any reference 20 to any type of product other than asbestos 21 packing in the letters? 22 MS. PORTILLO: I'll object as 23 compound. Vague and ambiguous as to 24 the term "asbestos packing." 25 A. They appear to make reference to
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1 the packings that we bought from these 2 manufacturers. 3 Q. And you don't see a reference to 4 any products other than packing; is that 5 correct? 6 A. That's correct. 7 MS. PORTILLO: I'll interpose 8 the same objections as vague and 9 ambiguous as to the term packing. 10 BY MR. BOSL: 11 Q. The letter from Gaddis 12 Engineering Company, it talks about a 13 Garlock compressed asbestos sheet. Is it 14 your -- what type of product is that 15 referring to? 16 A. That is a product that's in the 17 form of a sheet and not die cut preform 18 packing rings as from Raybestos and 19 Johns-Manville. 20 Q. As far as you know, is that 21 sheet product referencing a packing 22 material, or is it a gasket material? What 23 kind of a product was it, if you know? 24 A. Packing, gasket material. 25 Q. Do you see in any of the four
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1 letters any reference to -- well -- all 2 right. 3 To your knowledge, did J.A. 4 Sexauer officers or employees ever attend 5 any kind of national conferences or 6 conventions? 7 MS. PORTILLO: Vague and 8 ambiguous. Overly broad. 9 A. Conference or convention? 10 Q. With regards to any kind of 11 industry or trade? 12 MS. PORTILLO: Same objection. 13 A. Not that I know. 14 MR. BOSL: I think those are all 15 the questions that I have. Thank you. 16 MS. PORTILLO: I don't have any 17 further questions. Anybody else? 18 MR. BOSL: I think we can all 19 agree and stipulate that the witness 20 can read and sign a copy of the 21 transcript, and that we'll relieve the 22 court reporter of her duty to maintain 23 the original of the transcript, and 24 she can send that to our office, and 25 we'll maintain it.
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1 MS. PORTILLO: Yes. We 2 stipulate to that. 3 (Sbezzi Exhibits H through O, Marked.) 4 (Deposition concluded at 12:42 p.m.)
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
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1 STATE OF CONNECTICUT
HARTFORD, SS.
2
3
4 I, Sandra A. Deschaine, a Registered
Professional Reporter and Notary Public in
5 and for the State of Connecticut, do hereby certify that the foregoing deposition was
6 taken before me on the 16th day of October,
2 0 0 9;
7
That the witness named in the
8 deposition, prior to being examined, was by
me first duly sworn;
9
That said deposition was taken before me
10 at the time and place therein set forth, and
was taken down by me in shorthand and
11 thereafter transcribed into typewriting
under my direction and supervision;
12
That said deposition is a true record of 13 the testimony given by the witness and of
all objections made at the time of the
14 examination. 15 I further certify that I am neither
counsel for nor related to any part to said 16 action, nor in any way interested in the
outcome thereof.
17
IN WITNESS THEREOF, I have subscribed my
18 name and affixed my seal this , 2009.
19
day of
20 Sandra A. Deschaine, Notary Public
in and for the State of
21 Connecticut
Connecticut License No. 343
22 My Commission expires: 7/31/2013
23
24
25
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