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FILE NAME Kaiser Gypsum KG DATE 1998 DOC KG051 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION Legal - Deposition of John E. Crum VIDEO DEPOSITION OF JOHN CRUM 11/6/98 Case No. 98-2-24915-3 SEA SUPERIOR COURT OF WASHINGTON FOR KING COUNTY --000-- JOHN E. CRUM and MARILYN J. CRUM a married couple Plaintiffs -VS- THE E.J. BARTELLS COMPANY CORNING AMERICAN CORPORATION GAF CORPORATION individually and as successor to THE RUBEROID COMPANY ARMSTRONG COMPANY CORK COMPANY KAISER GYPSUM ; UNITES STATES GYPSUM COMPANY THE ASBESTOS CLAIMS MANAGEMENT CORPORATION fka NEW NATIONAL GYPSUM COMPANY - CERTAINTEED CORPORATION and W.R. GRACE & CO - CONN Defendants / DEPOSITION OF JOHN E. CRUM called for examination by counsel for Plaintiff pursuant to Notice at 1200 Chance Lane Reno Nevada on Friday November 6 1998 before Karen Yates a Notary Public APPEARANCES See separate page REPORTED BY VIDEOGRAPHER : KAREN TATES AER Nevada CCR No. 195 BILL STEPHENS SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS 702 329-6560 EXAMINATION By Mr. Bergman INDEX iii PAGE 1 DEPOSITION EXHIBITS No. 1 family photo PAGE 8 No. 2 photo of house 6 No. 3 photo of Alaska warehouse 16 No. 4 photo of Alaska truck 20 No. 5 photo of Carey product 26 No. 6 photo of Kaylo product 26 No. 7 commendation 39 No. 8 commendation 39 No. 9 commendation 39 No. 10 commendation 39 No. 11 Salesman of the Year award 40 No. 12 photo of award ceremony 40 No. 13 Kaiser Answers to Interrogatories 41 No. 14 warning 42 All original exhibits kept in possession of Mr. Bergman SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS 329-6560 : APPEARANCES For the Plaintiffs For the Defendant Kaiser Gypsum For the Defendant American For the Defendant W.R. Grace For the Defendant E.J. Bartells For the Defendant CCR For the Defendant Corning ii WEINSTEIN & BERGMAN 2 By MATTHEW P. BERGMAN ESQ 1201 Third Avenue Suite 5300 Seattle WA 98101-3000 4 6NE WILLIAMS KASTNER & GIBBS PLLC By Two 601 KENNETH E. PETTY ESQ Union Square Union Street Suite 4100 Seatle WA 98101-2380 -and- JACKSON & WALLACE By BRUCE A. FICHELSON ESQ 1 580 California Street 15th Floor Floor at, San Francisco CA 94104 12 BONNETT FAIRBOURN & BALINT FRIEDMAN By ANTHONY J. FERNANDEZ ESQ 4041 North Central Avenue Suite 1100 15 Phoenix AZ 85012 GORDON & REES By PAUL CLARK ESQ San Francisco CA STEELE & SALES P.S. CHERYL A. ZAKRZEWSKI ESQ 700 Fifth Avenue Suite 5511 Seattle WA 98104 GORDON THOMAS HONEYWELL MALANCA PETERSON & DAHEIM By HENRY WINDER WEBB III 600 University Suite 2101 Seattle WA 98101 17 20 121 23ESC JONES VARGAS By ANNE J. WILLIAMS ESQ 201 West Liberty Street Reno NV 89504-0281 RENO NEVADA FRIDAY NOVEMBER 6 1998 10:05 A.M. --000-- Also present in the deposition room were Marilyn crum John Dean crum and Brandon Crum MR BERGMAN We are on the record now This is Matthew Bergman appearing on behalf of plaintiffs John and Marlboro Crum This will be the perpetuation deposition of plaintiff John crum Plaintiffs agree and stipulate that an objection from one defendant during the course of the examination will be deemed an objection for all defendants whether or not the objecting party is still in the case at the time of trial If any of the other counsel have statements they would like to make on the record this would be a good time to do that Okay In that case why don't we begin Just a moment MR STEPHENS This deposition of John crum is being held on November 6 1998 at 1200 chance Lane Reno Nevada The caption of the case is John Crum and Marilyn crum versus the E.J. Bartells Company et al The deposition is being taken on behalf of the plaintiffs Time on record is 10:06 a.m. The videographer's name is Bill Stephens of Bill Stephens Productions would all attorneys present please identify SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-5560 (702)329-5560 SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS 702 329-6560 : Pages i - 1 VIDEO DEPOSITION OF JOHN E. CRUM 11/6/98 _ 2 l themselves and state the parties they represent 2 r 3 MR BERGMAN Matthew Bergman for the plaintiff MR PETTY I am Ken Petty representing Kaiser __-4 S Gypsum Company MS ZAKRZEWSKI Cheryl zakrzewski I represent 6 E.J. Bartells 7 MR FICHELSON Bruce Fichelson representing 8 Kaiser Gypsum Inc. 9 MR CLARK Paul Clark W.R. Grace 10 MR WEBB Henry webb C.C.R. 11 MR FERNANDEZ Anthony Fernandez for 12 American Corp. 13 MS WILLIAMS Anne williams Corning 14 MR STEPHENS The reporter's name is Karen Yates 15 from Sierra Nevada Reporters who will now administer the 16 oath to the plaintiff 17 JOHN E. CRUM 18 called as a witness by plaintiffs 19 having been first duly sworn 20 was examined and testified as follows 21 22 EXAMINATION 23 BY MR BERGMAN 24 Q Good morning 25 A Good morning SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 1 Q And what does your eldest son do for a living 2 sir 3 A He works for he works for -- can't recall the 4 name of the company 5 Q Okay Is one of your sons a doctor sir 6 A Yes he is 7 Q And what son is that 8 A That's Donald Ray Crum 9 Q 10 A 11 Q 12 A 13 Q. 14 ' sir 15 A And what kind of medicine does Donald practice He's an emergency room physician Do you have any grandchildren have 11 grandchildren Do you have a close relationship with your sons Yes I do 16 Q what are some of the things that you and your sons 17 do together 18 A well we have a boat we use that quite often 19 we go chukar hunting and fishing when we're not working 20 Q Do you work with your sons 21 A Yes do 22 Q How about relationship with your grandkids DO 23 you see a lot of them 24 A see a them lot Enjoy them very much And they 25 stay in this house with me quite a bit SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 12 2 ~~ 3 4 5 6 7 Q. Could you please tell the jury your full name sir A My name is John E. Crum m Q Mr. Crum where do you live A live in this home right here Q where is that located sir A The location is 1200 chance Lane Reno Nevada 8 Q And how long have you lived in this home here 9 sir 10 A have lived here since 11/15 of '88 11 Q '98 sir you think 12 A of '88 13 Q sir are you married 14 A Yes am 15 Q And what is your wife's name 16 A Marilyn J. Crum 17 Q Is she here with us today 18 A she's here 19 Q How long have you and Marilyn been married 20 A we have been married for 53 years 21 Q Do you and Marilyn have any kids 22 A We 23 Q what are their names and their ages 24 A They are John Dean Crum age 38. And Robert Lee 25 crum he's 43. And Donald Ray Crum is 42 . a SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 123 Q Do you have a special room in this house that is 123 used by your grandkids 123 A Yes have three -- I have two bedrooms that they 4 occupy 5 Q sir you indicated a little earlier that you 6 worked with your sons Are you still working 7 A Yes you bet 8 Q And what business are you in 9 A I'm in the building business until I got this 10 11 12 13 mesothelioma Q could you tell me a little bit about the building business that you used to be in before you got sick A well we built houses like this one This is the 14 last house we finished 15 Q Now when you say the building business do you 16 mean that you hire contractors to build homes for you 17 A No we do all our own work all our own work 18 Q By we who else works with you 19 A My sons John Dean primarily My oldest son has 20 a_nother job with another company 21 Q How many houses have you and John Dean built 22 ~ together 222 A Probably about 35 or 40 222 Q And do you sell the houses that you build 222 A No. SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS 702 329-6560 Pages 2 - 5 _ VIDEO DEPOSITION OF JOHN E. CRUM 11/6/98 6 1 Q or do you rent them 2 A well we keep the houses and rent them _ 3 on --- we build the house we rent it we hold wit Q You said that you built these houses yourself S sir what are the kinds of things that you and John Dean 6 did when you put these houses together 7 A on this particular house here we did everything 8 but the roofing the drywall and the carpeting 9 Q You did the concrete work 10 A we did the concrete work we do the -- everything 11 this house Electrical plumbing the boiler work We 12 do the entire job and we don't have any we don't hire it 13 out We don't let subcontracts 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 ~~ 23 24 25 Q sir I'm handing you what has been marked as Exhibit Two Can you tell me what that photograph shows A This is this house right here Q Is that the house that you built with John Dean A That's right we did everything on this house but the roofing We do the stucco work we do everything on here but the roofing and the drywall Q sir could you show Exhibit Two to the jury please A The witness complies S sir is this home something that you are proud of A I'm very proud of this home SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 1 know find a good spot where we can catch one 2 Q Do you go with the grandchildren fishing 3 A we go 4 Q okay sir I'm handing you Exhibit one I ask 5 you if you can tell me what that is 6 A Yeah that's a family picture of --- that's the 7 grandkids my daughter and my -- and my 8 daughter parents are there we are all a pretty 9 close group 10 Q sir before you started having your current health 11 problems how were you feeling 12 A was feeling great I was feeling great up until 13 about the eighth month I and got this tightness feeling 14 across my chest and I went to the doctor And my right lung 15 was full of this liquid The lung was clear up at the top 16 collapsed The right lung was full of liquid so they 17 drew over two quarts of liquid off of it 18 Q And before August of 1998 sir had you ever had 19 any serious health problems 20 A was never sick I had a hernia operation and 21 that's about it That's the worst thing that I had ever 22 had had never been to the doctor 23 Q Have you ever smoked cigarettes sir 04 A Never Never smoked a cigarette in my life 25 Q sir in August of 1998 when the doctor drained the SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 i. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 won 7 Q Before you became ill sir did you and John Dean have plans to build additional homes A Yes We bought this piece of land right here and there were five lots here and we have two houses built on the property now And our next step was to go right next door and build another one just like this we never build two houses the same but the same footage and all that same quality that's in this house we were going to have next door Q when you and John Dean are building houses together sir how many hours a day would you work on average A would say we work about nine hours a day average Some days we if one of us are sick why we just take off you know Take off a couple days two or three days if we want to But usually it's the other way around we just keep going you know we work steady Q sir before your current problems did you have any plans to slow down A never thought about slowing down Q what are some of the things that you and your family do together when you are not building houses A well we go out in the boat We have a Bayliner boat And we go up to - we go chukar hunting up near winnemucca we go fishing when we get a chance to You SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 fluid off of your lungs what did he tell you was the probable diagnosis A Well have an incurable lung cancer called mesothelioma It wasn't in the lung It was in the lung cavity on the outside of the lung Q And who was with you sir when your doctor told you about your diagnosis A son was with me and my doctor son Don and John Dean was with me Q Did you and your sons and your doctor discuss treatment options A Yes Q And what kind of treatment is available for your mesothelioma A There no treatment They did the biopsy thing and that was pretty serious Then they just buttoned me up They have no treatment for this Q what do you understand to be your prognosis A well I won't be here in a few months Q sir are you experiencing any physical pain as a result of your mesothelioma A hurts bad Q can you tell us where you are hurting A well from half my body the right half to the back to the spine around to right down there This right SIERRA NEVADA Reporters (702)329-6560 SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS 702 329-6560 Pages 6 - 9 VIDEO DEPOSITION OF JOHN E. CRUM 11/6/98 10 12 there 12 Q Are you taking anything for your pain ~ A oh yeah They've got the pain under control If _ didn't have these patches they put on me they put these S patches on and it's an opium patch It makes it so can't 6 feel it see But have side effects see from it 7 Q Are you having any trouble breathing 8 A have a hard time breathing I'm short of 9 breath If I walk 25 feet I'm breathless 10 Q sir in the last two weeks would you say that your 11 condition has gotten better or gotten worse 12 A I'm getting worse every day Every daya little 13 bit worse 14 Q Today is Friday sir On Monday are you going to 15 have any specialist come out and talk about your care needs 16 A Yes I'm going to have a group here in town that 17 __ tend to people like me 18 Q Is that hospice 19 A Yes 20 Q sir what is your understanding as to what caused 21 your mesothelioma 22 A They told me it's caused from asbestos only 222 Q Have you been exposed to asbestos over your life 222 sir 25 A Yes have been | \ 12 12 Q were you working - 2 A was a carpenter see So I a became joiner 3 And ajoiner puts in -- I worked up in the captain's 4 quarters installing furniture 5 Q were there any other trades working around you 6 when you were working inside the Liberty ships at Kaiser 7 shipyard in 1942 8 A welders plumbers pipefitters asbestos workers 9 There were pipes If you've ever been in a ship there's 10 thousands and thousands of feet of pipe 11 Q what kind of work were the asbestos workers doing 12 aboard the Liberty ships at Kaiser Number Two in 1942 13 A They were covering all these pipes They covered 14 steam pipes 15 Q can you describe for us sir how the asbestos 16 workers went about covering steam pipes on board those 17 Liberty ships at Kaiser shipyard in 1942 18 A well they open up the piece of pipe covering put 19 it on the pipe and they wrap it Of course they have to 20 ~ msake the joints where the pipe makes a bend They have to 21 hand fit that wrap it Coat it they coat it with a paste 22 and finish it off 23 Q when the pipe coverers would miter the pipe to get 24 it around the bend was it necessary to saw it saw the 25 material the pipe covering SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 ; 11 1 Q when was the first time you were exposed to 2 asbestos 3 A In my opinion the first time is when I went to 4 Alaska 5 Q Before you went to Alaska sir did you ever work 6 in shipyard 7 A Yeah I worked in Kaiser Number Two for a short 8 time Kaiser Number Two 9 Q was that in Richmond California 10 A Yes huh 11 Q And was that in 1942 that you worked there 12 A Just before I went in the service 13 Q And what kind of work was going on at Kaiser 14 Number Two in Richmond in 1942 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 ~~ 25 A They were building Liberty ships Q For those of us who didn't live through world war II can you tell us what Liberty ships were A They were a powered small freighter designed to carry war products to the British Q And were there a lot of Liberty ships that were being built in those war years A well one out every other day I think Q And what kind of work were you doing on those Liberty ships A was a joiner SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 13 123 A To size it 123 Q saw it 123 4 S 6 7 8 9 10 11 A don't know what you mean Q when you were working around asbestos workers at Kaiser shipyard in 1942 did the asbestos workers ever have to saw the pipe covering A Oh saw it Yes of course they did There was dust Sure they had to saw it to make the joints and so on and the bends that are required These pipes take different bends They go up run along a ways and make a left turn and so on 12 13 14 15 16 17 ~ 18 Q what was the air like inside the Liberty ships at the Kaiser shipyard in 1942 A Now I worked the night shift They had lights there you know And you could see the dust and the debris in the air Although they had blowers on the ship to get asll that out At night you could really tell what was in the air 19 Q sir after serving at working at Kaiser shipyard 20 did you go into the service yourself 21 A Yes did I went in the Air Force 22 Q And did you serve in the Air Force during world 323 War 24 A Yes did 323 Q After world war II did you get some SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS 702 329-6560 Pages 10-13 10-13 10-13 VIDEO DEPOSITION OF JOHN E. CRUM 11/6/98 1 2 ._ 3 I " S 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 14 education secondary education A went to the University of California at Davis Q And what did you pursue there what course of study A Oh I was pursuing animal husbandry Q Have you worked with animals since then sir A well came from wyoming originally and I always dreamt of having a big sheep ranch And it was a crazy idea I know Q Mr. Crum I've seen your dog outside the size of a sheep isn't it A Yeah he's about that big It's about Q sir you testified a little earlier that you worked up in Alaska there what company were you working for up A worked for Fiberglass Engineering and supply Company Q when did you first go to work for Fiberglass Engineering and supply company A well I first joined Corning at santa clara And then -- Q was that in 1943 Excuse me 1953 sir A Yes o okay A And then I moved north to Alaska SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 16 1 Q what was your job up in Alaska 2 A My job was to keep the branch operating do the 3 __ payroll all the -- keep track of the jobs keep track of 4 the inventory the cash box 5 Q were you the highest ranking person working for 6 FENCO in Alaska 7 A well the top man was a man named wally Muncie and 8 he was in seattle I got well acquainted with him on the 9 way up there 10 Q But in Alaska you were the number one guy 11 A Yeah yes 12 Q sir can you describe a little bit more what this 13 warehouse was like that you operated in ~ 14 A It was a building about as big as this house It 15 had a small office on the front with -- had a desk in there 16 and filing cabinets we had a little adjoining room where 17 there was a bathroom and then another door that went out 18 into the warehouse 19 Q sir I'm handing you what has been marked as 20 = Exhibit Three can you identify that photograph for us 21 A That's it That's the warehouse 22 Q Is that what the warehouse looked like in 1953 to 1956 24 A Yes 25 Q Did you take that photograph SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 15 1 Q Okay Is FENCO an abbreviation for Fiberglass 2 Engineering and supply 3 A Yes is 4 Q As you were moving north to Alaska when you were S working for FENCO sir did you happen to stop in seattle 6 A did I stopped in seattle 7 Q Did you work for FENCO in Seattle before you went 8 up to Alaska 9 A Yes I did 10 Q what kind of work were you doing for FENCO in 11 Seattle in 1953 12 A I did I was kind of kind of in training I was 13 doing inventory learning their accounting procedures 14 payroll and all the company records that had to be kept you 15 know in the process of operating the branch up there 16 Q what building were you working in when you were in 17 FENCO's seattle operation 18 A was working in the warehouse and in the office 19 Q what was the warehouse like sir 20 A well just like all warehouses It was a dusty 21 place you know I mean all warehouses you go in there 22 and the dust is an inch thick That's the way it was in 23 Anchorage also 24 Q when did you get up to Anchorage sir 25 A got up there in winter of '53 J SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 17 1 A Yes did It's a cold place 2 Q How many people were working for FENCO up in 3 Alaska during the 1953 to 1956 period 4 A well we had had a warehouse man named John 5 Colgan and myself Then we had these crews these asbestos 6 workers who did the -- the contracts were figured in seattle 7 and then they were sent up there and we were in charge of 8 the doing the job 9 Q And approximately how many asbestos workers did 10 FENCO employ in Alaska in the '53 to '56 period "fi A well if varied but about 30. we had about 30 12 people 13 Q what were some of the major insulation contracts 14 that FENCO had in Alaska during the period that you worked 15 up there 16 A we had jobs all over Alaska Some of them lasted 17 quite awhile Some were short lived you know It didn't 18 take us long to finish them They would be building new 19 ones and sending them up to us and so on you see 20 Q what were some of the major jobs that you recall 21 A we had jobs in the Elmendorf 22 Q Elmendorf Air Force Base 23 A Fort Richardson we had -- let's see we had the 24 DEW warning 25 Q what was the DEW warning system sir SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS 702 329-6560 Pages 1417 1417 1417 VIDEO DEPOSITION OF JOHN E. CRUM 11/6/98 L 2 _w 5 6 7 A That was during the cold war when we were a little bit afraid of the Russians There was radar it was a radar setup that they placed these domes across the Arctic Circle some jobs we had to fly the material out there to get it out there to the job site Q was it difficult to keep FENCO's crews supplied with insulation material 8 A very very difficult because it was particularly 9 we were busy then Material was in short supply There was 10 lots of work and people were hard to hire then They were 11 scarce 12 Even though somebody didn't do their job you 13 didn't go out and fire them because you would have nobody 14 then to do anything You had to put up with their the 15 things that you didn't like about them 16 Q As result of some of those problems sir did 17 you have to conduct inspections and trouble shooting on some 18 of these major jobs 19 A I went out to these different places and you do 20 what you can you know You send six men out there to do 21 job and they won't do anything for a whole week They'll be 2222 ~~ partying out there 2222 Q well sir -- 2222 A Instead working on the job 2222 Q when you would -- SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 20 1 it with material that looks like cheese cloth Then they 2 coat it and they have these stiff brush They put the 3 adhesive on there and so on That's the way they covered 4 the whole thing when they get done it looks all white 5 Q How would the insulators form the block insulation 6 7 8_ 9 10 to size when they were putting it around a boiler A To size Oh they cut it they cut it with a saw in the field Q what would happen when they would cut it with a saw 11 A They get dust they get lot of dust They get 12 dust when they mix the adhesive 13 Q sir you testified that FENCO would sometimes have 14 to fly supplies in Would FENCO also use a truck to supply 15 its crews with product 16 A Yeah Well we had a lot of building insulation 17 there that we sold to the local people It was a pretty 18 good market we sold a lot of insulation that way And we 19 had we have a delivery truck That's it right there 20 Q I'm handing you Exhibit Four 21 A This is the delivery truck that our man colgan 22 delivered around town you know In Anchorage 43 years ago 322 doesn't look like it looks today 322 12 sir, in addition to doing trouble shooting on the 322 job sites would you do any fabrication of insulation SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 with Eskimo 19 12 A Having a big party with these Eskimo women 12 Q well sir when you would go up to the job sites 3 and break up the party would you try to get them back to 4 work 5 A Oh yes sure but you don't fire them because 6 then you get absolutely nothing done 7 Q And can you describe for us sir once they get 8 back to work the kind of work that you would observe the 9 insulation crews doing on these job sites 10 A well sometimes you would go out and everything 11 would be going fine you know 12 Q can you describe for me the kind of work process 13 they were going through 14 A Oh yes well you mean how they did the job 15 Q Yes sir 16 A Okay well they -- there was probably a pipe 17 covering job and could be a boiler room 18 Q Let's take a boiler sir How would the 19 insulators cover a boiler typically 20 A well what they do is they cover the boiler with 21 flat plate insulation They would put they mix this 22 _adhesive up in gallon can you know They put the 23 water in They put in the powder to make the adhesive And 24 they stick the insulation on there 25 Then of course they have to they usually wrap SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ~~ 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 21 components yourself A when we had a special job they occurred pretty often inch pipes or so And they are these these lines come down They make bends why I could -- I would make these segmented fittings in the warehouse so the asbestos worker he just drops those in and then finishes right over it Q why would you A Expediates the work for them Q can you describe for the jury sir how you would go about manufacturing these fittings A well I saw those right in the warehouse Q what kind of a saw would you use A we had a big table saw there so I would segment them up with that And it went along pretty good The dust the dust was every place though But there was dust out there anyway you know There was dust there when I got there 19 Q what would happen when you would hit the asbestos 20 with the power saw then 21 A The dust would fly 22 Q And would that dust be cleaned up or would it just 23 add to the pile 24 A No we just leave it there Hey I only had John 25 Colgan and I. And he was out of commission most of the SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS 702 329-6560 . Pages 18 - 21 VIDEO DEPOSITION OF JOHN E. CRUM 11/6/98 22 1 time ; ~~ 2 ~*~ cones S Q could you enlighten us what would cause Mr. Colgan to be out of commission from time to time A He had a tendency to drink a little bit and spend too much at the Last Chance 6 Q what was the Last Chance sir 7 A The Last Chance was it was a -- it's a topless 8 club All the girls came up from seattle you know And 9 the boys would spend most of their time And old John 10 would he'd spend all of his time down there And then when he came back to the warehouse his little room back there 12 where the bathroom was And that's where he spent the day 13 And I'm filling his orders Local delivery orders 14 a_nd other things that needed to be done So I didn't have 15 much time to sweep the floor 16 Q sir 17 A The dust just laid 18 Q sir you talked about maintaining the inventory 19 can you describe for us the system that you used to maintain 20 the inventory at the FENCO warehouse in Anchorage between 21 = '53 and '56 22 A well when I got up there I took an inventory we 323 had a big cardex file It was all checked out you know I 25 started then we started Orders coming in I posted to -- 24 12 A One of them was named Bartell and the other one 2 was Boron or something like that 3 Q - was that Brower 4 A Brower of course 5 Q sir would Bartells and Brower ever purchase 6 supplies from you 7 A Absolutely That was the thing when we were 8 out when we were out of material why we could buy from 9 them You know it was a vice versa thing you see 10 Reciprocal agreement we could buy from each other 11 Q Sir did FENCO's Alaska warehouse have one 12 particular type of asbestos product or many different 13 manufacturers products 14 A Oh they had different products because when we 15 would buy from Bartells and the job was over we had to 16 bring that back into our warehouse We couldn't take it 17 __ back over there and give it to them So we kept it 18 Q And as the manager in FENCO was it your 19 responsibility to maintain the inventory 20 A Yes I was not supposed to let the inventory run 21 down to where we couldn't keep our jobs going 22 Q was it your responsibility sir to know what 23 __ products were present in the warehouse 25 Q sir do you recall the manufacturers of the SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 23 1 and when I placed an order I made a reference so on when 2 it came in why it often came in short 3 Q on these card files that you had sir or these 4 note cards would you indicate the manufacturer of these S particular insulation products 6 believe so believe did yeah 7 Q was the seattle office always able to supply you 8 with the insulation products you needed to satisfy your 9 contracts 10 A No they were short a lot of times That's what 11 made big problems We had to pick up the materials that we 12 couldn't get Took about three weeks to get the product up 13 _ from Seattle 14 Q was it - 15 A Unless we flew it up That was a big premium 16 thing 17 Q So sir were there times when you didn't have 18 three weeks to wait for the product and had to get it right 19 away 20 A That's right yes 21 Q How would you get it 22 A we would buy it from the local our local 23 competitors 23 Q who were some of your local competitors from whom 25 you would buy insulation products SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 1 asbestos products that FENCO used between 1953 and 1956 in 2 Anchorage in Alaska 3 A They used Kaylo They used Pabco carey and 4 Armstrong We had to keep those we had to keep those 5 products We couldn't take them back over 6 Q Let me ask you a few questions about these 7 products Did you ever see any warnings on the boxes well 8 the boxes of Kaylo that breathing asbestos was dangerous 9 A Never 10 Q Did you ever see any warnings on the boxes of 11 carey that breathing asbestos dust could cause mesothelioma 12 A No never did 13 Q Did you ever see any warnings on the boxes of 14 Pabco 15 A NO 16 Q How about Armstrong sir 17 A No. 18 MR WEBB object to form 19 Q Did you ever see any warnings on the boxes of 20 Armstrong that breathing asbestos could cause a hazard to 21 human health 22 MR WEBB Same objection 222 A NO 222 THE REPORTER I'm sorry I didn't see who made the 222 objection SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS 702 329-6560 . Pages 22 - 25 VIDEO DEPOSITION OF JOHN E. CRUM 11/6/98 1 2 car S 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 BY MR BERGMAN Q sir I'm handing you what has been marked as _ Exhibit Five Ask you if you can identify that for me please A Yeah Q what is that A That's a Carey box Q Does that look like the boxes of Carey that you used in Alaska when you were working for FENCO A That's right They had that logo on the side Typical Q could you show the jury Exhibit Five A Typical cardboard box All the boxes looked the same Qcould you identify Exhibit six A That's a Kaylo That's a Kaylo box Q Does Exhibit six look like the Kaylo product that you used A Yes it did Q sir what caused you to leave FENCO stop working for them A well my wife didn't like Alaska she didn't like 50 below zero Every time I went home at night why Let's go back let's go back Q so did you go back to sunny California in 1956 SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 28 123 A They sold Pabco and U.S.G. 123 Q What is U.S.G. 123 A That's United States Gypsum Company 4 Q As a sales representative sir was it ever S necessary for you to conduct demonstrations on the 6 application of drywall 7 A Yes did that quite often The dealer would 8 buy from us of course and then he would tell his 9 contractors well John Crum will be by next week and we're 10 going to tape this board They would nail up some sheets of 11 _ wall board on the side of the building 12 Q sir a lot of us don't really know how to do 13 taping can you walk us through the product through the 14 process of how you would go about doing one of these 15 demonstrations and what steps you would take 16 A Well we -- first of all you have to have the 17 board nailed up And the dealer would do that He would 18 have it all ready to go We would take this gallon 19 bucket Put the joint compound in there We would put 20 water in it Put the joint compound in It's a powder 21 Then we would havea drill electric drill we 22 would mix it all up 23 Q what would happen when you mix the powder in the 22 ~~ water 25 A Dust would come out of there We never had any SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 27 A Yes I did Q Then what did you do when you went back to california for a living A went to work for Fiberglass Engineering and supply in sacramento as the office manager Q Okay How long did you continue as office manager A worked there for about three months and then I 9 found a lot better job 10 Q what job was that sir 11 A went to work for Norco Distributing company in 12 Sacramento 13 Q what kind of -- go ahead 14 A As the -- I was the sales representative for 15 northern California And my territory was from -- well it 16 was from chico to Yreka California 17 Q what kind of a company was Norco 18 A Norco was a great company It was a full line 19 building material distributor we had plywood molding 20 ~~ doors full line of electrical and plumbing paint And we 21 had the thing we had was the local the delivery delivery 22 ~~ of the product we delivered every week to the dealer we 23 sold only to dealers 24 Q can you tell me whether or not Norco sold any 25 drywall products SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 29 1 respirators or anything like that 2 Q Then what was - after you had mixed up the U.S.G. 3 joint compound what was the next step 4 MR WEBB Object to form 5 A We would tape the board 6 Q can you describe how you would go about taping the 7 ~~ board 8 A You get a taping knife You fill in the joint if 9 it's a horizontal joint or a vertical joint Fill it with 10 mud and you press the tape into the joint And then you 11 knife it down That's the first course 12 Q okay Then would you -- 13 A Then the next week 14 Q what would you do the next week 15 A The next week we put on the topping 16 Q what is the topping coat 17 A well it's mostly clay And it's real smooth 18 Then the next week we sanded it 19 Q can you describe how you would go about sanding 20 the material 21 A Used a sanding pole and work back and forth on it 2223 And then of course it sands down all the imperfections and 2223 then you can start thinking about priming the putting 2223 primer and finishing the wall 2223 Q what happens when you sand dried - SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS 702 329-6560 Pages 26 - 29 VIDEO DEPOSITION OF JOHN E. CRUM 11/6/98 30 1 A or you can texture it you see People who want 2 texture they have to have the spray texture shot on it Q what happened when you sand drywall compound _ A The dust comes off of it naturally S Q sir in addition to your demonstrations of drywall 6 application did you ever have to conduct inspections orjob 7 visits while drywall work was going on g A Yeah 9 Q while you were with Norco 10 A when the dealer sells a consumer and he does the 11 job wrong he lets the job freeze or he finishes a house and 12 doesn't keep heat in it and the house expands and cracks 13 develop and the consumer wonders well what's wrong here 14 what's wrong It's the mud It's the way he did the job 15 Q what would you have to do 16 A In most cases - 17 Q what would you - 18 A well they want to be compensated for that for 19 that cracking and so on I had a beautiful house up in 20 = Susanville And this builder finished the house and he 21 ~~ couldn't sell it so he let it sit there 22 And winter came along and the house he would come 23 in maybe on the weekends and turn on the heater And the 24 house would go like this joints all opened up from 25 expansion and contraction 32 1 Norco for about ten years and I decided I didn't like chico 2 anymore and I wanted to move to Nevada And so I moved to 3 Nevada with Kaiser 4 Q How were you contacted by Kaiser about this job 5 o_pportunity 6 A well the Kaiser regional sales manager approached 7 me and asked me ifI wanted to go to work for them 8 Q So what were your duties when you were moved to 9 Nevada and worked for Kaiser 10 A had northern california and Nevada excluding 11 Las vegas 12 Q what kind of products did Kaiser Gypsum sell 13 A They sold gypsum wall board of course all kinds 14 all types of gypsum wall board They had a line of drywall 15 accessories 16 Q What are accessories sir 17 A Accessories are the items that finish the wall 18 = board 19 Q could you tell us what some of them are 20 A Like joint cement and they had all kinds of 21 textures Textures for the wall you know and acoustic 22 ceilings They had tape to tape the joints And they had 23 ~~ adhesives for dual ply insulation That was an accessory 21 2 pid YOU in addition to selling Kaiser Gypsum 25 products sir in your region did you have any SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 31 1 Q Did you have any special clothes you would wear 2 when you would do these demonstrations or work around --- 3 just a minute just a minute 4 A Okay S Q when you would work around drywall contractors 6 A Yes had overalls in my car and would slip it 7 over my suit could go on any job you know without 8 getting all messed up you see 9 Q what were the brands of joint compounds that Norco 10 sold and that you used to conduct your demonstrations 11 A well Norco bought U.S.G. mostly and pabco 12 Q How did the U.S.G. product come packaged 13 A It came in pound bags 14 Q Did you ever see any warnings on the bags of U.S. 15 Gypsum product that breathing the asbestos dust could be 16 hazardous 17 A Never have never seen any bag warning tabs 18 like that or printing on the box or the bag you know that 19 would say something like that 20 Q Mr. Crum in 1964 did you go to work for Kaiser 21 Gypsum Company 22 A Yes did 23 Q How was it that you came to work for Kaiser Gypsum 23 = company ; 25 A well I was living in chico I had worked for SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 33 1 _ responsibilities for demonstrating the use of those 2 products 3 A Yes we had a school up in seattle to teach the 4 salesmen how to demonstrate these products how to finish 5 the wall board and so on And often did this out in the 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 field had drywall contractors here in town have apprentices start you know And they a want help we gave them what they wanted little bit of Q And was the process that you would use to apply Kaiser Gypsum drywall compound similar to the process that you just described earlier with respect to United States Gypsum A Yes all drywall is finished the same Q And did you have any responsibilities to inspect major jobs that where you were supplying product A Absolutely Q why was that A well because sometimes the company puts out a wall board that -- they have cockles on the back and they would have when the finishing was started the blistering took place calcined wall board So they want compensation when the wall board doesn't work perfect the customer wants to be compensated for it Q Beyond kind of trouble shooting sir did you have a more positive reason to go visit some of your job sites SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS 702 329-6560 < Pages 30-33 30-33 30-33 VIDEO DEPOSITION OF JOHN E. CRUM 11/6/98 1 ,y2.__ st 5 6 34 A Yes One of the main reasons was to keep on top of the job and not let some competitor get in on and out sell you Get the next load in other words Q when you were regional sales manager for Kaiser Gypsum sir did you sell for home construction or commercial construction or both 7 A we sold both had tract jobs I had the circus 8 Circus Hotel down here 9 Q I'll ask about specific job sites in a minute 10 sir But before do that what were some of your major 11 customers when you were sales manager for Kaiser Gypsum 12 A well solari was one of my main customers Of 13 course he's no longer around had Atlas Drywall had 14 numerous smaller drywall contractors solari was probably 15 __ the biggest drywall contractor that I sold 16 Q sir are you familiar with a product called 17 Spray 18 A of course 19 Q what is Spray sir 20 A It's an acoustic spray It's fallen from - 21 people don't desire it anymore They usually go for 2222 __ finished like this smooth wall 2222 Q Did you sell -- 2222 A Textured ceiling 25 Q Did you sell Spray while you were sales manager 36 1 some of the commercial sites you worked on My first 2 question to you sir is was there a lot of hotel 3 _ construction in Reno in the late 60s and early 70s 4 A Not too much 5 Q when did the -- 6 A we had Harrah's and we had the circus circus The 7 first circus circus Had the Ponderosa on South virginia 8 Ponderosa Hotel 9 But the hotel the hotel construction has 10 _ blossomed since those days 11 Q Okay I want to try to first of all determine 12 some of your work on some of these construction sites was 13 there a reason for you to go on a construction site before 14 the drywall was put on 15 A Yes 16 Q why was that sir 17 A To make sure that I got my wall board on there 18 If you hang out in the house and don't get out on the job 19 sites to find out well what's the drywall contractor going 20 to do on this job He might order a competitor's product 21 Q Are you familiar with a process called 22 ~~ fireproofing 23 A oh yes 21 Q. Can you describe for the jury what fireproofing 25 is SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 35 1 for Kaiser Gypsum 2 A Yes 3 Q what kind of buildings would Spray typically be 4 used in S A oh that's strictly for home construction you 6 know And the reason is that they can finish the job 7 ~~ cheaper You know they don't have to spend the time 8 sanding the ceiling to get it smooth If you have a job 9 like this and you don't want to spend so much time on it 10 just do a rough job you can cover it up with Spray 11 Q How does Spray come packaged sir 12 A It comes in bag It comes in I believe it's a 13 pound bag They put it in hopper and mix it up And 14 that's a dusty job too 15 Q why is it dusty sir 16 A well because it's a powder They put it in the 17 spray rig and mix it up They mix it up and they shoot it 18 on the ceiling 19 Q sir do you recall any of the job sites where you 20 supplied Spray while you were working for Kaiser Gypsum 21 A Oh yes Lewis Homes out here had Lewis Homes 22 ~~ for years 23 Q Any other entities besides Lewis Homes 24 A well we had Barker we had so many jobs 25 Q am going to ask you now some questions about SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 37 123 A Yeah that's a material probably the most 2 probably the best known one is Zonelite It has to be 3 sprayed on all these steel buildings before any covering 4 goes on the wall 5 Q why is that sir 6 A well because if a major fire starts in there it 7 melts the steel and down comes the building 8 Q And - 9 A so they put it on there They spray it on there 10 just like they do wall texture They mix it up in a big vat , 11 and they run the hose up in the building and they spray 12 every square inch of steel steel frame that is 13 Q Have you worked on buildings where zonelite was 14 being sprayed | 15 A Yes have been on them It's a messy it's a 16 = messy thing 17 Q want to now ask you some questions After the 18 fireproofing goes on what is the next step in terms of your 19 work as a sales representative for Kaiser Gypsum 20 A Next step for me is as soon as it's cleaned up 21 then they are going to start stocking they are going to 22 start putting the metal on and then the wall board is going 23 to go there You better be there and find out whose 24 ~~ material is going where 25 Q I'm going to ask you now if you can recall the SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS 702 329-6560 : Pages 34-37 34-37 34-37 VIDEO DEPOSITION OF JOHN E. CRUM 11/6/98 1 2 oo. 3 4 5 6 7 hotels in Reno and carson city and Lake Tahoe where you sold Kaiser Gypsum joint compound A Okay On Harvey's wagon wheel on Harvey's wagon wheel In Reno was Harrah's Harrah's first phase And then circus Circus first phase And Ponderosa that wasn't too large job small hotel That's about it 8 Q could you tell me whether or not you sold Kaiser 9 Gypsum joint compound on the MGM Grand 10 MR PETTY Object to form leading 11 A On the MGM Grand Isold 50 percent of the wall 12 board and I can't recall how much drywall accessories we 13 sold there 14 Q Are you familiar with a hotel in Carson City 15 called the Ormsby House 16 MR PETTY same objection 17 A The Ormsby House Yes And solari had that job 18 solari was buying from me 19 Q Did Mr. Solari -- 20 A He bought Kaiser 21 Q Did Mr. - do you know whether Mr. Solari 22 ~~ bought -- what products did Mr. Solari buy from you on the 23 ~~ Ormsby House project 28 He bought joint cement Joint cement and spray 28 texture And that's it think Tape tape he bought SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 40 1 haven't seen these before the deposition 2 MR BERGMAN Just got them today counsel or 3 yesterday 4 MR PETTY Other than the fact I was here 45 S minutes before the deposition 6 BY MR BERGMAN 7 Q Mr. Crum in 1972 on account of your efforts did 8 you receive any awards 9 A Yes I did 10 Q what award was that sir 11 A was salesman of the year 12 Q was that a proud time for you sir 13 A Pretty it was a pretty good time 14 Q Could you hand me Exhibit 11 15 A Yeah that's it 16 - Q what is that sir 17 A That's the salesman of the year award 18 Q when you received your salesman of the year award 19 sir was there a ceremony associated with that honor 20 A Yeah we had a big dinner in Oakland 21 Q who was present at that dinner sir 2223 A The C.E.O. the company was there 2223 Q who was the C.E.O. 2223 A The gentleman right here 2223 MR PETTY what is this Mr. Bergman SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 39 I tape 2 Q sir from your testimony it sounds like you sold 3 an awful lot of Kaiser Gypsum products 4 MR PETTY Object to the form of the question 5 _ Leading 6 A did sold a lot of wall board and product 7 Q Did you receive any recognition from your company 8 for your sales efforts 9 A Yeah Yes I did 10 Q Handing you what has been marked as Exhibit seven 11 is this one of the ~ 12 A Yeah that's one 13 Q And in March 1965 did you receive another 14 commendation 15 A Yes that's another one 16 Q was 1972 a good year for you as a Kaiser Gypsum 17 sales representative 18 A very pretty good year 19 Q Handing you what has been marked as Exhibit Nine 20 is that the commendation that you received 21 A Yes absolutely 22 Q And Exhibit Ten is that also a commendation you 222 received in 1972 222 A You bet 25 MR PETTY counsel is there any reason we oo. SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 41 1 MR BERGMAN That is Exhibit 12 2 Q who is the individual in the blue suit standing 3 next to you sir 4 A That was Mr. Costa 5 Q what was his role in Kaiser Gypsum 6 A He was chief executive officer of Kaiser 7 Q Mr. Crum in 1972 did you sell a small amount or a 8 large amount of Kaiser Gypsum joint compound 9 A would say my volume was fairly large 10 Q How many can you give us some idea of how much 11 Kaiser Gypsum joint compound you sold in 1972 12 A No I couldn't guess even without -- it tells in 13 one of these letters here 14 Q Between 1972 and say 1975 sir did you continue 15 to sell Kaiser Gypsum joint compound 16 A Absolutely as much as I could 17 Q How many bags would you estimate you sold during 18 that time period 19 A Oh that's a difficult question I would say 20 10,000 bags maybe 21 Q sir I'm handing you what has been marked as 22 ~~ Exhibit 13 which are Kaiser Gypsum's Answers to 23 Interrogatories in another case I would ask you sir to 24 read the response to that interrogatory 25 A right It says here Beginning in 1972 SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS 702 329-6560 Pages 38 - 41 VIDEO DEPOSITION OF JOHN E. CRUM 11/6/98 ; 1 2 _ 3 4 _. S 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Kaiser Gypsum affixed caution labels to the packages and containers of its asbestos containing products The warning label as prescribed by OSHA read Caution contains asbestos fibers Avoid creating dust Breathing asbestos dust may cause serious bodily injury Q sir did you ever see a warning in 1972 on any bag of Kaiser Gypsum joint compound A Never saw I never saw a thing like that at all on any bag Q How about in 1973 sir Did you ever see any warnings on any Kaiser Gypsum bags -- A No I never have seen a warning like that Q How about in 1974 14 A No I never seen one 15 Q How about in 1975 16 A Never 17 Q sir I'm handing you Exhibit 14. Have you ever 18 seen a warning such as that depicted in Exhibit 14 prior to 19 today 20 A Never a saw thing like that before in my life 21 Q sir did you ever receive any oral notification 2222 ~~ from anybody at Kaiser Gypsum -- 2222 A NO 2222 Q -- that asbestos containing inint compounds had 25 asbestos in them SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 44 1 A These are these are my friends 2 Q sir who is does it make you feel today to know 3 that Kaiser Gypsum joint compound had asbestos in it 4 A well it's bad If it causes this it's bad S Q I want to ask you a few more questions sir about 6 your mesothelioma Can you describe for us I think you've 7 described to us some of the physical symptoms you've 8 experienced as a result of your illness How about some of 9 the emotion and spiritual symptoms that you have had 10 A They are deep They are deep I don't know what 11 can tell you but this is going to kill me 12 MR BERGMAN That's all the questions I have 13 THE WITNESS That's hard to take 14 MR BERGMAN That's all I have at the present 15 time Thank you 16 MR PETTY Let's go off the record 17 There was a discussion off the record 18 The deposition concluded at 11:10 a.m. 19 20 21 2222 2222 2222 25 SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 r~ 43 1 A No I never have 2 Q Did you ever receive any oral warnings or oral 3 __ notification from anybody at Kaiser Gypsum that -- 4 A NO 5 Q - that breathing asbestos from the joint compound 6 could be dangerous 7 A No never did I never did see a label like 8 that at all on any product 9 Q sir did you value your relationship with your 10 _cs ustomers 11 A Absolutely 12 Q Did you communicate product information to your 13 customers : 14 A Yes I did everything I could Part of my job 15 Q Did you ever have an opportunity to tell your 16 customers that the Kaiser Gypsum joint compound you were 17 selling them was hazardous to their health 18 A Never I never did that I never knew anything 19 about this Never saw it 20 Q As sales representative would it have been your 21 responsibility to 22 A should have known that If saw it I should 23 ~~ have told my customer And I wouldn't have sold him the 22 ~~ product 25 Q How does --- SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 45 1 JOHN E. CRUM do hereby swear or affirm under penalty of perjury that the assertions and answers of this deposition are true DATED at Reno Nevada this 1998 day of JOHN E. CRUM * SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS 702 329-6560 Pages 42 - 45 VIDEO DEPOSITION OF JOHN E. CRUM 11/6/98 46 STATE OF NEVADA COUNTY OFDOUGLAS ) : I KAREN YATES a Notary Public for the county of Douglas State of Nevada do hereby certify That on Friday November 6 1998 10:05 a.m. at the home of John E. Crum 1200 chance Lane Reno Nevada I was personally present and took verbatim stenotype notes of the deposition of JOHN E. CRUM who personally appeared and was duly sworn by me and was deposed in the matter entitled herein and thereafter transcribed the same into typewriting as herein appears That the foregoing transcript is a full true and correct transcription of my stenotype notes of said deposition DATED at Reno Nevada this 12th day of November 1998 KAREN YATES RPR Nevada CCR No. 195 SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS (702)329-6560 SIERRA NEVADA REPORTERS 702 329-6560 < Pages 46 - 46