Document jg5wLvwX08Gwe6EZ2Jp40wX0k

SKELLY OIL COMPANY INSURANCE DEPARTMENT C . L. SWIM T U LSA , OKLAHOM A JUNE TWENTIETH, 1 9 3 9. D r. R o b ert A. Kehoe K ettering Laboratory Eden and B ethesda S tr e e ts C in c in n a ti, Ohio Dear D r. Kehoe: Skelly O il Y0-u w i l l p erh ap s remember t h a t I v i s i t e d you In ' C incinnati in th e la tte r p a rto j^ l9 3 8 In connection w ith the above case a t which tim e was m aking claim a g a in s t us u n d er th e Workmen's Compen a a iio n L a w o f Oklahoma. S u b seq u e n tly I ad v ised you t h a t the I n d u s t r i a l Commission o f Oklahoma had r e je c te d h is claim on the ground th a t he had f a ile d to prove an in ju ry by accid en t which Is a necessary requirem ent under the Oklahoma Workmen*s Com pensation Law. T h is man h as now f i l e d a common law a c tio n a g a in s t u s w hich i s in th e F e d e ra l D i s t r i c t Court f o r th e N o rth ern D i s t r i c t o f Oklahoma and w i l l p ro b ab ly come on Toy t r i a l in Septem ber o r O ctober o f t h i s y e a r . In th is s u it he seeks recovery o f $25,000.00. To r e f r e s h y o u r memory may we say t h a t was for.som e 12 o r 15 y ears a tru ck d r iv e r h a u l in ^ g a s o H n e ^ (In clu d in g e th y l g aso lin e) from our bulk p la n t here In ^ u lsa to v ario u s r e t a i l o u tle ts in the v i c i n i t y o f T u lsa . His work in t h a t co n n ectio n was e s s e n t i a l l y l i k e th a t o f any ta n k wagon d r i v e r . As to h i s c o m p lain ts and s ymptom s, b e g in n in g as f a r b ack as 1936 a t l e a s t , I r e f e r you to my l e t t e r to you o f December 7 , 1938, w ith w hich I s e n t you copy o f r e p o r t made by D r. J . C. Brogden in w hich was Included th e fin d in g s and re p o rts o f D rs. Larr&bee, L h evineand Nelson and also th e re p o rt o f D r. R. M. S h ep ard , a l l o f t h i s "city* S u b se q u e n tly we r e c e iv e d th e r e p o r t o f Dr* B ern ard L . B ra n le y o f T u ls a who exam ined Hr* ^ p B H p p b la st f a l l in connection w ith th ese o th er doctors and aTsoH Ereated t h i s man as a p r i v a t e p a t i e n t in F e b ru a ry and M arch, 1936. I now e n c lo s e copy o f t h a t r e p o r t fro m a l l o f which you w ill be able to g et th e c lin ic a l p ic tu re of th is c a se . In th e p re s e n t a c tio n Mr. is claim ing to ta l perm anent d i s a b i l i t y . The p e t itio n as drawn by h is a tto rn e y is a l i t t l e confusing b u t ap p aren tly the burden of h is com plaint is the claim th a t he has su stain e d an occupational d isease from th e continuous b re a th in g o f g a s o lin e fumes and th e poisons which he a lle g e s th e g aso lin e contained as d istin g u ish e d from p h y sical Dr* R o b e rt A.- Kehoe 6-.20-.S9 c o n ta c t w ith th e g a s o lin e as a l i q u i d . I am e n c lo s in g a copy of h is com plaint and c a ll your a tte n tio n to c e rta in alleg atio n s as follow st Page 1 , P a ra g ra p h ~2, he a l le g e s th e h a n d lin g o f " g aso lin e co n tain in g E th y l, one o f the chem ical contents th e re o f b ein g le a d , which was poisonous to the p l a i n t i f f 's system . * * and c o n sta n tly b reath ed fumes from sa id g a s ." Page 2 , P aragraph 3 , a lle g e s e th y l g a so lin e was harm ful to him . P aragraph 4 , p l a i n t i f f a lle g e s th a t he was "s ic k w ith h is lungs by reason of h is occupation as a fo re s a id ." This w as'presum ably in 1936 as he goes on to a lle g e t h a t on a d a te in t h a t y e a r th e w r i te r and D r. Brogdeh of th is c i t y made c e r t a in re p re se n ta tio n s which l a s t a lle g a tio n is n o t tru e in f a c t . Page 3 , Paragraph 5, here p la in tif f alleg es th a t h is p re se n t co n d itio n is due to poisons from said g aso lin e and o il, p artic u la rly said ethyl gasoline. P aragraph 6 - h e re the p l a i n t i f f a lle g e s t o t a l and permanent d is a b ility from (a) " h is c e n tra l nervous system has been a ffe c te d " (b) "h is lungs a ffe c te d by f ib r o s is " and (c) "because he s u ffe rs extreme and e x c ru c iatin g p h y sic al p ain ." As to a l l o f t h i s you w i l l o b serv e from th e d o c t o r 's re p o rts m entioned above th a t th ey do n o t th in k he is d is a b le d . M r. A lvin F . Molony and Mr. Hawley C. K e rr, a t t o r neys in our le g a l d ep artm en t, a re w orking on our defense to t h i s s u i t and b ec au se o f my p re v io u s c o n ta c t w ith you th e y have ask ed me to w r i t e you s o l i c i t i n g your r e a c tio n s and o b s e rv a tio n s r e s p e c tin g th e c o n te n tio n s made in t h i s com p l a i n t w hich a re b r i e f l y enum erated in t h i s l e t t e r . We su rm ise t h a t p l a i n t i f f ' s a tto r n e y w i l l f in d some d o c to r who w i l l t e s t i f y th a t th e b re a th in g o f g a so lin e fumes alo n e, and p a r tic u la r ly i f sue|i g aso lin e co n tain s te tr a e th y l le a d , w ill a f fe c t th e c e n tra l nervous system and th a t th e same w i l l cause f i b r o s i s in th e lu n g s and t h a t when th e s e two r e s u l t s have o ccu rred th e e f f e c t i s to cause p ain and to ta l permanent d is a b il i ty . In t h i s c o n n e c tio n you w i l l remember t h a t t h i s man does have f i b r o s i s in h i s lu n g s so t h a t we w ould l i k e to know your Opinion o f w hether th e b re a th in g of g a so lin e fumes would cause fib ro s is in his lungs, considering fo r the purpose of your answer th a t some of th e g a s o lin e c o n ta in e d t e t r a e t h y l le a d / and some o f i t d id n o t , b u t t h a t in a l l e v e n ts th e g a s o lin e ...S' 6-20-39 to w hich he was exposed was com m ercial m otor f u e l* As you w ill observe from reading ihe com plaint i t s e l f i t is not p e rfe c tly c le a r whether p la in tif f expects to claim in ju ry from th e f a c t t h a t t e t r a e t h y l le a d was in the g a s o lin e o r to claim such e f f e c t from the g aso lin e re g a rd le ss of t e t r a e t h y l le a d , o r b o th , so t h a t we s o l i c i t your o p in io n as to w h at, i f any, in ju ry would r e s u lt from th is n a tu re of exposure in a d d itio n to the qu estio n of lead p o iso n in g . We a re o f th e p r e s e n t o p in io n t h a t we sh o u ld l i k e , and t h a t i t would be im p o rta n t to u s , f o r you to come to T ulsa and t e s t i f y when th is case is t r i e d w ith re s p e c t to your knowledge of the e f f e c t o f b re a th in g g a so lin e vapors from gasoline which does or does not contain te tra e th y l l e a d . Between now and t r i a l tim e th e s e a tto r n e y s may w ish to go to C in c in n a ti to see you a t a d a te c o n v e n ie n t to you so th a t i f th e r e i s a p e rio d betw een now and Septem ber when you d e fin ite ly w ill not be av a ila b le fo r such co n su ltatio n I sh o u ld be g la d i f you w i l l l e t me know now ab o u t t h a t . There i s a n o th e r m a tte r on w hich we s o l i c i t your in d u lg e n c e . We n o te in th e r e p o r t o f th e c a se o f U n ite d S ta te s v s. ilth y l G asoline Corporation in the D is tric t Court o f the U n ite d S ta te s f o r th e S o uthern D i s t r i c t of New Y ork, d e c id e d May 19 , 1939, and r e p o r te d in th e U n ite d S ta te s Law Week f o r June 6, 1939, page 22, the court sa id : "Such provisions of the lic e n se agreements w ith th e r e f in e r s cannot be s u s ta in e d on the th e o ry th a t th e corporation (E thyl G asoline C orporation) has a rig h t to req u ire jobbers dealing in .lead-treated gasoline to be lic e n se d in order * * . . to secure compliance w ith th e re g u la tio n s proposed by the Surgeon G eneral of th e U nited S ta te s governing the s a le of le a d -tre a te d g aso lin e to th e p u b lic ." ' Our p r e s e n t i n t e r e s t l i e s o n ly in a s c e r ta in in g w hat ttr e g u la tio n s p ro p o sed by th e Surgeon G en eral o f th e U n ite d S tate s governing th e sa le of le a d -tre a te d gasoline to the p u b lic " are re fe rre d to by th e c o u rt in th e q u o ta tio n above* I am s u r e y o u a r e f a m i l i a r w ith any r e g u la tio n s p ro p o sed by th e Surgeon G eneral and I should be glad i f you would l e t us know w here and how we may o b ta in a copy o r i f t h i s p a r t i c u l a r r e f e r e n c e b y th e c o u r t i s n o t c l e a r to you may we r e q u e s t t h a t you pass th is p a r t o f our in q u iry on to th e E th y l G asoline C o rp o ratio n 's Legal Department to g e th e r w ith your re q u e st th a t they advise u s. We c e r t a i n l y do n o t w ant to impose on y o u r good n a tu r e b u t we f e e l t h a t o u r .c o n tr a c t r e l a t i o n s h i p w ith th e E thyl G asoline C orporation is such, to g eth er w ith the very Ofs -5 .1 U / Aj i U v o u . #4 D r. R o b ert A. Kehoe 6-20-39 m utiial in te r e s t o f b o th th e E th y l G asoline C orporation and o u rs e lv e s in p r e v e n tin g r e c o v e r ie s by th o se who a l le g e in ju r y from h a n d lin g e th y l g a s o lin e , when such claim s a re n o t j u s t i fie d , is such as to authorize the bringing of our troubles to you to t h i s e x t e n t . In a d d i tio n t o t h i s we s h a l l th o ro u g h ly appreciate the favor of your ea rly re p ly . W ith p e rs o n a l r e g a r d s , I am CLS