Document rxVYL8wO5JMGv4n8D72NmK3eV

FILE NAME: Westinghouse (WH) DATE: 1993 July 21 DOC#: WH140 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Deposition of Russell Senkow F: t >1 fL 1 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 SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NEW YORK: I.A.S. PART 17 IN RE: NEW YORK CITY ASBESTOS LITIGATION THIS DOCUMENT RELATES TO: MARIO MALTESE, et al. ORIGINAL VIDEO DEPOSITION UNDER ORAL EXAMINATION OF RUSSELL SENKOW TRANSCRIPT of the video deposition of the witness, called for Oral Examination in the above-captioned matter, said video deposition being taken pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure by and before ANDREA TEMPALSKY, a Notary Public and Certified Shorthand Reporter, at the Offices of GREITZER & LOCKS, ESQS., 1500 Walnut Street, 22nd floor, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, July 21, 1993, commencing at approximately 9:50 in the forenoon. JOB #307214 BRODY & GEISER CERTIFIED SHORTHAND REPORTERS 77 Hamilton Avenue Fords, New Jersey 08863 (908) 738-8555 2 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 APPEARANCES: WILENTZ, GOLDMAN & SPITZER, ESQS 90 Woodbridge Center Drive' ' Woodbridge, New Jersey 07095 BY: CHRISTOPHER M. PLACITELLA, ESQ. Attorneys for Plaintiffs McGUIRE, WOODS, BATTLE & BOOTHE, ESQS. 1 James Center ' Richmond, Virginia 23219 BY: SCOTT CAIRNS, ESQ. Attorneys for Defendant Westinghouse ALSO PRESENT: LEE_BALEFSKY, ESQ. from the firm of Greitzer & Locks, Esqs. GLENN REITZEL from Certified Video WITNESS NAME INDEX RUSSELL SENKOW Direct by Mr. Placitella PAGE NO. 8 EXHIBITS NO DESCRIPTION PAGE NO. P-1 Safe Practice Data Sheet A-20 34 -2 Process Specification, Insulation of Steam Turbine and Associated Equipment 34 '-3 January 11, 1946 letter 34 '-4 Citation and Notification of Penalty 39 -5 Stipulation and Settlement Agreement 39 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 3 (Off video record.) MR. CAIRNS: Before we begin I'd like to put on the record my understanding of the scope of today's deposition. Yesterday in court Judge Schackman heard argument on this deposition and stated that the scope -- in the morning he stated that the scope of the deposition and I'm reading from page 2520 of the ! i transcript, the only reason as far as I am concerned for the deposition is to determine the outcome of that particular OSHA complaint, referring to Plaintiff's Westinghouse 114, is not to be expanded because it is not proper during the trial to obtain evidence that you should have had before the trial started. Later in the day at your request I understand that the scope of the deposition was expanded such that you are allowed to ask Mr. Senkow about what products were made at Lester and then in a separate part of the deposition designed as anticipated rebuttal to Westinghouse's argument that the citation was for written reporting only, not failure to give oral information. The question can be asked about what Westinghouse told this witness 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 4 himself or what Westinghouse relayed t.o this witness himself about his medical condition. Any other discussion of other employees is excluded. Is that your understanding? MR. PLACITELLA: The first part. It's the supplemental portion that I am not. That's not how it was relayed to me. It was relayed to me that in the event that Westinghouse took the position that if the employees were actually told of something that would open the door to questions about the scope of what the employees were actually told generally. I was going to leave that for -- and/or for a rebuttal case, I was going to leave that portion of the questioning to the end to be segregated from the rest of the deposition. I think your understanding and mine are slightly different on that, but it's also something that the court can deal with in terms of excising if they think certain questions were beyond the scope of the court's directive 'cause I don't have the exact understanding that you do. MR. CAIRNS: Well, the discussion that was had with the court was that any testimony by 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 D this witness about what other employees were told would be hearsay and that that was not to be explored in this deposition. MR. PLACITELLA: The problem is that's part of the OSHA issue so we'll have to let the -- we'll have to let the judge deal with that. I understand what your position is. if there's something the judge thinks is improper he'll not let the jury see it, but it's hard for me to say not having been there. I understand the first part of what you said was correct. The last part I'm not so sure on, but, in any event, there won't be any prejudice because the jury won't see it if the judge doesn't think that's what they should see. MR. CAIRNS: Well, I have the judge's telephone numbers from the courtroom. if we're going beyond what he's ordered for this deposition I think what we should do is take a break and -- MR. PLACITELLA: Or we'll just ask the questions and he'll excise it. way. Okay. It's the easiest Before we start I was supplied certain 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 6 documents by Westinghouse pertaining to the 1980 OSHA citation. Before we start, are there any other documents related that I have not been provided with? MR. CAIRNS: We found one document last night. it was among industrial hygiene documents that were reviewed by the Motley firm and that is the settlement agreement. MR. PLACITELLA: to look at this. Just give me two minutes The only citation I have been provided with, Scott, is citation number two. This talks about citation one through four. What is one, three and four about? MR. CAIRNS: I actually don't know. MR. PLACITELLA: Okay. MR. CAIRNS: I don't know that they pertain to asbestos. are. I don't know what they MR. PLACITELLA: Okay. So your understanding is that this -- settled this? they eventually MR. CAIRNS: That's correct. MR. PLACITELLA: And that Westinghouse agreed to correct all the violations at least ner citation number two? MR. CAIRNS: Well, there's a provision at a back that says exactly what is being done. 's contained in appendix B. MR. PLACITELLA: Okay. Well, why don't we this. Why don't we -- I'll take a minute an we take a break to read this more fully. ' not going to get to this part for a few `Utes, okay. I'm sorry, Mr. Senkow. MR. CAIRNS: Before we begin on the video, ris, I notice that you have a number of cuments that are exhibits from the case that I n't think are within the scope of the judge's citation on this deposition and I don't think a witness should be examined on it and if i're planning to go into those types of issues an I think we need to get back to the judge 1 find out exactly what the scope of this oosition is going to be. MR. PLACITELLA: Let's see what he says, it's for the end. See what he has to say. (On video record.) C cor /Q O 0 \ *7nQ_Oc:c:K /n t \ r\a * 8 1 RUSSELL SENKOW, 2 314 Seneca Street, Lester, Pennsylvania, 3 called as a witness, having been first 4 duly sworn according to law, testifies as 5 follows: 6 7 DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. PLACITELLA: 8 Q Good morning, Mr. Senkow. ' How are you? 9 A Good morning. 10 Q My name is Chris Placitella. I'm with the 11 law firm of Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer and I represent 12 a number of plaintiffs in this case who were exposed to 13 asbestos while working at Consolidated Edison. 14 We're here today for the purpose of taking 15 your deposition. Have you had the opportunity to have 16 your deposition taken before? 17 A Yes. 18 Q All right. I'm going to ask you a series 19 of questions which I ask that you answer to the best of 20 your ability. If for some reason you can't, please 21 tell me that and I'll try to rephrase the question. Do 22 you understand that? 23 A Yes. 24 Q All right. Now, we never met before 25 today, correct? R. SENKOW Direct 9 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 A That's correct. Q All right. time last Friday? A Yes. And I called you for the first Q And asked you if you would be willing to give testimony in these matters? A Yes. Q And then for a short period of time before this case -- this deposition started I met with you to find out what the substance of your knowledge was. is that correct? A That's correct. Q Now, you are currently how old? A 69 . Q And you reside where? 314 Seneca Street, ^ ? t e r / " ' | I n n s y l v a n i a . * Q education? Could you give us the benefit of your ^ I went to third year of high school, Central Q amily? Okay. And can you tell us do you have a Yes. Q All right. Wife and two children, two boys. R - SENKOW - Direct 10 1 Q Any grandkids yet? 2 Just one. 3 Q And what's his or her name? 4 A Jacob. 5 Q Okay. 6 A It was my grandfather's name. 7 Q Now, during the course of your employment 8 did you work for Westinghouse? 9 A Yes. 10 11 A 12 Q For approximately howmany years? 45 years and two months. 13 Westinghouse? 14 A October the 8th, 1 9 4 1 . t 15 16 A- -v* ;;#h^lthero-;>i|'<f you-, work? , Beiti 17 Q What did -- was it known by something else 18 at that time? 19 rbat time it was South Philadelphia Works. 2 0 Q Then it later became known as the Lest er 21 plant? 22 A Yes. 23 24 A Q Because it's in Lester? That's correct. 25 __ ^ right. What did they make at th Brody & Geiser (908) 738-8555 or (212) 732-0644 R* SENKOW - Direct 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Ajcauer plant jwu were tn i- C 'w^wj.uuiiyUS( A The major product, it was steam turbines. Then wa made turbines, gas turbines and we also made gears like for Mt. Palomar in California. We made the propulsion unit for the first nuclear submarine and propulsion units for the United States ship, mostly propulsion units for the Wavy and industrial steam turbines and industrial gas turbines. At one time we made aviation gas turbines and that was shipped out to Kansas some years ago. o Okay. I'm just going to ask you briefly some questions about your own employment background. When you started there in 1941 what was your job? A I was what you call a tool and cutter grinder. Q Okay. A Running surface grinders and other types of jnnders, lovejoy grinders. i stayed there for nine nd a half years, then I went to what we call a fitter tnd that would be we built the industrial steam urbines from the ground up and tested them on the sa| ite. Q All right. So as a fitter you did what?| Well, we assembled the parts of the turbine. Q You were a part of the assembly process? That's correct. Brody & Geiser (908) 738-8555 or (212) 7-0-0644 R. SENKOW D irect 12 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q What did a grinder do? A A grinder, we ground the tools and cut the - for lathes, vertical boring mills, horizontal boring mills, sharpen tools and ground and made the tools for the cutting operation. Q And are you familiar with the term lagger? A Yes. Q What was a lagger as you understood it to be while you worked at Westinghouse? A A lagger, the top man would make the blankets, sew the blankets according to the prints and then they would go out on the floor and put blocks and -- white blocks and the muck. First they did, for an example I'll use cover to a steam turbine. They would take and -over that, cut it and fit it. They'd have to cut it ind fit Xt 311 around the turbine with wire. Sometimes hey d use they'd use the electric shooter type ;hing to shoot -- i forget the name of the thing -- nto the turbine and that's what they would tie the locks on with wire. Q Okay. so are they -- was that the trade hat insulated the turbines? Yes, laggers. We called them laggers. Laces called them insulators. Other Q And so on site part of the turbine was B rody & Geiser (908) 738-8555 or (212) 732-0644 R. SENKOW Direct 13 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 insulated, is that what you're saying? A Right on site, yes. While the other workers were working around there, the fitters and the testers. Q Did you, when you worked at Westinghouse during the entire period of time that you were there, did you have the opportunity to watch the laggers work? A I worked right on the erecting floor after I left the grinding. MR. CAIRNS: I want to object to further examination in this area.' It's not within the scope of the judge's limitation that this has to do with products it manufactured. I don't think how they're manufactured is relevant to the scope as the judge has instructed. MR. PLACITELLA: They manufactured turbines there, Mr. Cairns. the questions. I'll continue with MR. CAIRNS: Well, I don't think that how they are manufactured is within the scope. if you're - MR. PLACITELLA: I think you're wrong and I'll ask the questions. If the judge thinks that I'm wrong then he'll cut that part of the deposition. I ask you not to interrupt. MR. CAIRNS: No, I'm interrupting because Brody & Geiser (908) 738-8555 or (212) 732-0644 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 K* SENKOW -- Direct 14 I think the judge made it clear that that was not the purpose of this deposition and that I'm requesting at this point that we stop and call the judge to get a clarification if you believe, that this is beyond the scope. MR. PLACITELLA: Put this off. (Off video record.) MR. PLACITELLA: I don't believe it's beyond the scope. You believe it's beyond the scope. If the judge wants to excise this he can. I have a right to know what this man's j background knowledge is in terms of what he 1 observed and how he knows things were made there i and this is absolutely proper. I'm not going to stop the deposition now. I'm going to proceed. For some reason you want to make an application to get this part of the deposition struck, fine, but I want to get this deposition done. Okay. So you can reserve your objections. I understand it. I think it's proper in light of what I know his ruling was. All right. if you don't like it you'll just have it struck. I don't want to sit there and call on every question. _________ M R * CAIRNS: Mr. Ortiz represented that Rrodv & Geiser 738-8555 or r2121 732-0644------- < 1C 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 SENKOW - Direct 15 "e f th6 PUrPSea f " is deposition was for 6 ^ thelr ^utisdictions and i do not want this deposition to go on beyond th. scope that Judge Schackman has allowed it and I would suggest that at this point, it wi u t>lw very little time to call the judge and find out. HH- PLACITELLA; x,. not golng to a Phone oall ,,hen I ask him what a lagger d oes, what a dagger is. T h a f s the basis of his knowledge of what was made there and ,,h a t ,,as done there, certainly it-s impossible for that to ha beyond the scope of the deposition. MR. CAIRNS: The scope of the deposition was limited to ,,hat products ,,ere made at - MR- PLACITELLA: And how would he know that unless he can give background as to the people who made them. MR. CAIRNS: t sit there and - That's notnot necessary. He can MR. PtACITBLLA: Well, x-a glad you say a t . i-m going tQ contlnue4 y q u ^ put Whatever ohjection you want on the record. can | we go back on the videotape. (On video record.) 0 Mr. Senkow, you were t-pi i -- ---- ------ J ere telling us about Brody & Geiser (9 o 8 } ~ ---- -- --- ----- - 1 ' 738-8555 or (212) 732-0644 R- SENKOW - Direct 1 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 f 13 14 15 16 17 18 t-': 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 did you have the opportunity to see laggers work? A Yes. Q How? H A Well, i worked right next to them. When they'll come out on the job to block It and they first cut the block to shape, to fit the different form of the cover. x 'm going to use covering as an example and after they finished blocking it, then would take the Bug*,and Bake the paste and go over it and smooth it out and ma^e it,' you know, conform with the form o*"the- o v e i | W Q Okay. A Then they would put the cloth on it. Q Now, in this case one of Westinghouse's witnesses testified that Westinghouse never manufactured an asbestos product at any plant. tell me as you sit here today whether, to your can you knowledge, Westinghouse manufactured any product at the Lester plant that contained asbestos? MR. CAIRNS: I'm going to object to the form of that question. That is a mischaracterization of the testimony of ! Mr. Vickerstaff (phonetic) which is who -- j MR. PLACITELLA: What do you say he's testified to, Mr. Cairns? That's exactly what he said. B rody & Geiser (908) 738-8 5 5 5 or (212) 732-0644 R. SENKOW Direct 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 if 24 25 MR. CAIRNS: What he's testified to is that he did not personally know whether blanket were manufactured or made at the Lester facility. MR. PLACITELLA: And are you representing on the record that he never testified that Westinghouse never made an asbestos product, is that what you're saying 'cause I want to know. You have the transcript. saying on this record? Is that what you're MR. CAIRNS: I believe that Mr. Vickerstaff said that Westinghouse made products that contained asbestos. MR. PLACITELLA: That was after I cross-examined him on the issue, was it not, Mr. Cairns, and when he first was asked the question he said -- he said, did he not, Westinghouse never manufactured asbestos, didn't he say that, Mr. Cairns? MR. CAIRNS: record. I put my objection on the ' PLACITELLA: Fine. I want to proceed. Q Do you know whether Westinghouse manufactured any asbestos-containing products at the Lester plant? B rody & Geiser (908) 738-8555 or (212) 732-0644 R. SENKOW Direct 18 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 A Well, one of the major products they made were the blankets. They would take the cloth, they - Q Who made the blankets? A The lagger, the top lagger double A 1 lagger. Q Okay. A He would have a sewing machine there. He'd cut the fabric, the cloth, then he'd do it according to the prints that were made for him and then he would, at one end of it where he would have an opening, stuff the muck and the other stuff in, other asbestos product, then he'd sew up the ends and they would be used a lot of times for the -- on the heat jobs that they had to bring them up to a certain heat and contain the heat so that they could weld it. They used them on all the products, all the steam, gas products in the plant. Q Now, the blankets - A Right. Q the material that you say was cut and sawed, do you know what that was made from -- I mean cut and sewn? A The cloth - Q The cloth. A There would be a thick cloth. Q Right. A It would be, I'd say maybe a sixteenth of an Brody & Geiser (908) 738-8555 or (212) 732-0644 R- SENKOW Direct < li 11 12 ' 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Ja I " 011 " 10* ^ - a thinner cloth uld only be a few thousandths thick, mayb e . Q Do you know what that cloth nat cioth was made of' even ASb8St - - this stu^ a ve,, after they got a u beat u^ ^ ^ ^ ^ they would still use tho, * jobs. r Packln9 a ^ Of the heat A U ri9ht- Bh e ,,as the asbestos blanket. vlien it* n _ , hen at ,,as completed, placed on th. t u r M if you know? ' 1 o u , on the covers, on the - m > , gas urbxne on combustion, Pract-i^ t , Pr=tically the whole turbine 53 cavered with aebeetoe exoant th* * XCept the Pedestals and -- what the heck *= +-k . 13 tha nams of that gear, the irning box where the rroa-y^ it _ WSre' that wasn't covered 0 s mghouse ison? W h U e yOU " ere th* *> you recall ,,hath er ever manufactured a turbine for Con Many turbines. Comers, con Edison. That was one of our best Q And do you know whether the turbines that 6 manufactured for Con Edison ever had blanket s on m? Yes ' they did, covered with them. B rody & Geiser (90 8) 7 3 8 ^ 555 or (212) 732-064. R. SENKOW Di r e c t 2 0 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 Q Now, you also indicated that one of the products that was actually manufactured at this Lester facility was a turbine? A Yes. Q And did that turbine contain asbestos? A The covers, yes. Q block? All right. And before I think you told us A Block, yeah. Q What was your understanding of what the block was made of that was used? A Asbestos, it was all asbestos. Q Are you aware as to -- are youfamiliar with the term pipe covering? A Yes. Q Was any pipe covering installed on the turbines at Lester facility? A Underneath the turbines -- we tested all the turbines. Underneath the turbines there was all kinds of piping, every type of piping you could think of and any steam piping was covered. Q All right. made from? A Asbestos. ' And do you know what that was Q And also you said muck, what's muck? B rody & Geiser (908) 738-8555 or (212) 732-0644 R- SENKOW - Direct 21 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 A That's a powder that you mix with water and then apply it to the joints mostly and to really make a job look good and for the insulation. Q And do you know what that was made from? A Asbestos. Q Now, am I correct that you never personally installed these products? A No, only the laggers did it. Q But you saw them do it? A Yes, they put it on and they took it off. Q Did you ever, inyour job, ever work with any gasket material? A Yes. Q made ofB Do you know what that gasket material was A *Asbestos. Q Would that gasket material be installed on the turbines that we're discussing? A Yes, between any pipe joint on the horizontal joints of the cover and the base, they'd be. Q Did you personally do that? A Yes. Q Now, did some point in time -- let me ask you this. were you there -- can you describe, for instance, the conditions in the air when a pipe Brody & G eiser (908) 738-8555 or (212) 7 3 2 - 0 6 4 4 R. S ENKOW Direct 2 2 1 covering was applied? 2 MR. CAIRNS: This is clearly beyond the 3 scope of what Judge Schackman ordered. 4 MR. PLACITELLA: Why is that? 5 MR. CAIRNS: A specific discussion on the 6 record that we were not to go into the 7 conditions at the plant. 8 MR. PLACITELLA: During the application? 9 MR. CAIRNS: That's correct. 10 MR. PLACITELLA: I'll go on. 11 MR. CAIRNS: Page 2520 I made the 12 objection with respect to the scope of the 13 deposition I would like a limitation that this 14 is only related to the conclusion limited to 15 whether or not there was a finding of -- whether 16 or not there was a finding of liability against 17 Westinghouse in the OSHA matter rather than a 18 deposition that might pertain to the conditions 19 at a Westinghouse facility. The court, you are 20 absolutely right. 21 MR. PLACITELLA: But then it was later 22 amended. I'll go on. 23 MR. CAIRNS: You're going to go on despite 24 Judge Schackman's limitation? 25 MR. PLACITELLA: I'm going to ask him -- Brody & Gei s e r (908) 738-8555 or (212) 732-0644 R. SENKOW Direct 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 I'm going to go to a different issue. MR. CAIRNS: All right. Good. MR. PLACITELLA: Relax. MR. CAIRNS: you -- I'm not going to relax if MR. PLACITELLA: Relax. MR. CAIRNS: -- try to -- MR. PLACITELLA: at me. Just relax. Just relax . Don't yell Q Did there come a time, Mr. Senkow, when you became president of the union at the Lester facility? A Yes. Q And what union was that? A Local 107, United Electrical Radio & Machine Workers of America. Q And what year did you become president? A '64 . Q And how long did that first term last? A I stayed as president till '66 and I went for other jobs in the union. Q Did you ever return as president? A Yes. Q And when was that? A Back in '80, '81, around '80. B r o d y & Geiser (908) 7 3 8 - 8 5 5 5 or (212) 732-0644 R. SENKOW Di r e c t 2 4 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 Q 1980? A Yes. Q And - A '81 I think it was. I'm not sure. Q You're not positive? A Not positive. Q When you were president of the union the first time how many men were under your jurisdiction? A Five to 6,000. Q And the second time back in 19 -- in 1980, how long did you stay president of the union? A Till the plant closed. Q And when was that? A December 31st, 1986. Q Okay. Now, the second time, how many people were you -- did you have jurisdiction over? A Well, it started out with about 4,000 and kept dropping down till we were at about 800 when Westinghouse told us in February of '86 that they were closing the plant. Q All right. Now, when you became president of the union the second time in 1980 could you tell the jury what your job responsibilities w e r e ? A Well, they had to do with everything that pertained to the people in the plant, pertaining to Brody & Geiser (908) 738-8555 or (212) 732-0644 R. SENKOW - Direct 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 wages, hours and working conditions. Q All right. A Including safety, things of thatnature. Q All right. Was there anykind of health and safety committee in existence at the time that you became the union president for the second time? A We had a safety and health committee for many years in the union. Q The union had it? A Yes. Q And was it part of your responsibility to oversee that committee? A I was the chairman of every committee that we had and anything that happened with the committees, I met with every committee at least once a month. Q Okay. And are you familiar with the mode of communication, the way information was communicated to the workers by Westinghouse concerning issues of health and safety? A Westinghouse, if they ever had any safety hints most of them were on eye care. I guess 95 percent were on eye care. They'd put a little thing on their bulletin boards, a little leaflet. Q My question is if things were communicated, you would know how that was being Brody & G e i s e r (908) 738-8555 or (212) 7 3 2 - 0 6 4 4 R. SENKOW Direct 2 6 1 communicated? 2 A Yes. 3 MR. CAIRNS: Objection to the form of the 4 question. 5 A Yes, by - 6 Q Well, if things were communicated - 7 A They wouldn't tell me. 8 Q All right. 9 A They'd just put it on the bulletin board as 10 their safety -- 11 Q Now, at the time you served as union 12 president from 1980 to '86 was there a medical doctor 13 on staff at Westinghouse? 14 A Yes. 15 Q And do you know at that time whether men 16 were being given physicals? 17 A Not -- not as a regular thing. Only if they 18 went over there for something. 19 Q Okay. 20 A The only thing that they did was the x-rays that 21 they were told to do by OSHA. 22 Q Okay. 23 A And they a g r e e d to. 24 Q So x-rays were given to the men when 25 you -- Brody & Geiser (908) 738-8555 or (212) 732-0644 R. SENKOW Direct 2 7 1 A On their birthday. 2 - Q On their birthday. And how were the 3 results of the x-rays communicated to the men? 4 A I never -- 5 MR. CAIRNS: Objection. I believe that 6 the judge specifically said that this witness 7 was not to testify about anything other than 8 communications with himself. ' 9 MR. PLACITELLA: I don't think that's true 10 but we'll go on. 11 Q How were the results communicated? 12 A The only thing that anybody that I ever knew 13 that got a letter after an x-ray is the same as I got; 14 after my first x-ray with them, the letter to me said 15 that there's been no significant change since your last 16 x-ray and that's what everybody got. 17 Q All right. Now, did there ever come a 18 time when the union requested that OSHA come in and do 19 an inspection of the plant while you were the union 20 president? 21 A It wasn't at the time I was president. It was 22 the year before - 23 Q Okay. 24 A -- when they made the request. 1 25 Q All right. And what happened there? | Brody & Geiser (908) 7 3 8 -8555 or (212) 732-0644 R. SENKOW Direct 2 8 1 A And OSHA came in and one of our chief stewards 2 went all around the plant with them for two days. 3 Q All right. And do you remember that chief 4 steward's name? 5 A I can't pronounce the name but Tony Piancentino 6 (phonetic), sounds like that, Piancentino. 7 Q Okay. And do you know what OSHA did 8 during this inspection -- were you there, by the way? 9 A No, not -- the only one there was the chief 10 steward. He escorted her all over the plant. 11 Q But were you working in the plant at the 12 time? 13 A Yes, yes. 14 Q Do you know what OSHA did, I mean what 15 they were inspecting while that went on? 16 A Well, they were inspecting for asbestos and .17 where this chief worked they had a huge tube that they 8 were working on, it was called a pipe. They put piping 19 in this tube and our welders and grinders had to work 20 inside that thing without any ventilation or anything 21 like that, that was one of the things. The storage of 22 their oxygen and gas tanks, the way they were stored 23 haphazardly all over the plant, a lot of the lagging on 24 the pipes, on steam pipes. The asbestos lagging was 25 broke and falling all over the plant, things of that Brody & Geiser (908) 738-8555 or (212) 732-0644 R. SENKOW Direct 2 9 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 nature. '' Q Do you know if they made a review at that time of any employee medical records? A Yes, they did. Q And what did they review, if you know? A They want to the medical records in the d i s p e n s a r y spot picking and I think t h e y p u l l e d out ten or eleven p e o p l e that had shown on t h e i r x - r a y s that there was something wrong with their lungs l^P'nvar notified' the workers. Q Okay. And do you know as a result of that i n s p e c t i o n yhafchoK^an-y' c i t a t i o n was- e v e r i s s u e d by OSHA to Westinghouse?' Yes, thotf* . w a % A Q All right. A And -- Q Go ahead. A I forget how many. It was a large number. Q Okay. A And we had ahearing on it. Q Where was the hearingheld? A At 3535Market Street. Q And were youpresent at that hearing? A Yes. . fQ All right. And do you know whether Brody & Geiser (908) 738-8555 or (212) 732-0644 R. SENKOW Direct 30 1 f Westinghouse eventually paid a fine of any sort 2 pursuant to that? 3 'A I don't know whether they did. I know that they 4 5 ,' y 'j /> /g; were fined a large figure, but I don't know what it was \ or -- I Q All right. 7 IA I 8 -- how much they paid. Q And at this time -- well, strike that. 9 ^ Let me go off the record. I want to look at this. 10 (Off video record.) 11 MR. PLACITELLA: Is it Westinghouse's 12 position that these employees were, in fact, 13 employees in the Lester plant that were found to 14 have disease in the 1980, '81 time frame were, 15 in fact, told of the conditions prior to OSHA 16 getting there? 17 MR. CAIRNS: It is Westinghouse -- it is 18 my understanding as is evidenced by paragraph B 19 of appendix B that there was a group of 20 employees who had been identified for medical 21 surveillance because they possibly worked with 22 or were possibly exposed to asbestos and that 23 the citation was for not giving them a written 24 response or a written description of the results 25 of x-rays and pulmonary function tests that were Brody & Geiser (908) 738-8555 or (212) 732-0644 R. SENKOW Direct 3 1 1 given to them as part of that surveillance 2 program and that they were notified of the 3 results, that this group of individuals that are 4 involved here who were under medical 5 surveillance were notified of the results 6 verbally and that that citation was for failure 7 to comply with OSHA recordkeeping requirements 8 and failure to give a written notification as 9 indicated by both the citation and appendix B to 10 the settlement agreement to the citation. 11 MR. PLACITELLA: Well, I understand. So 12 just so I understand it because this will govern 13 how I proceed from here, it's Westinghouse's 14 position that prior to OSHA getting there, these 15 people were actually told of their diagnosis? 16 MR. CAIRNS: It depends on who you mean by 17 these people. 18 MR. PLACITELLA: The people who are 19 referenced in the 1980 citation, although not by 20 name, there were a number of people who they 21 found to have asbestos-related disease and I 22 guess my question is because it dictates how I 23 proceed whether it's OSHA's -- I mean 24 Westinghouse's position that these people were 25 told prior to this citation. If they were then B rody & Geiser (908) 738-8555 or (212) 732-0644 R. SENKOW Direct 3 2 1 I think that expands what I'm permitted to ask 2 this man. If they weren't, then I'll stop. 3 MR. CAIRNS: It is my understanding that 4 the citation was for not giving a written 5 response or written description as indicated on 6 the first page of the citation. 7 MR. PLACITELLA: That's not my question. 8 MR. CAIRNS: I understand. 9 MR. PLACITELLA: Not what the citation 10 says. The question is, is it Westinghouse's 11 position that the men were told. If they were 12 told -- if they weren't told about it, then I 13 have no more questions. If your position is 14 that they were told and that you might bring 15 somebody into court to say that they were told 16 then I have, as I understand it from 17 Judge Schackman's ruling, I have the ability to 18 ask further questions. 19 MR. CAIRNS: It is my understanding that 20 the group of individuals who were involved in 21 this particular medical surveillance were told 22 of the results of their PFTs and x-rays. 23 MR. PLACITELLA: And you intend to bring 24 proof of that in your case in chief? 25 MR. CAIRNS: If it becomes an issue in the Brody & Geiser (908) 738-8555 or (212) 732-0644 R. SENKOW Direct 3 3 1 case. 2 MR. PLACITELLA: Then either you can make 3 your telephone call at this time or I will 4 proceed to ask this witness questions about what 5 the general procedures were for informing 6 employees about the dangers of asbestos in the 7 work place because I think that's relevant at 8 this point. So if you think you need to make a 9 phone call so we don't sit here and argue about 10 it for a half hour make your phone call. 11 MR. CAIRNS: I will do that. Let me make 12 sure that we understand the parameters. My 13 understanding is that at this point 14 Judge Schackman said that you may ask this 15 witness whether he was informed about his 16 medical condition and that may not go into the 17 discussion of whether others were informed of 18 their medical condition or other issues. If 19 that's what you intend to do - 20 MR. PLACITELLA: I think you should make 21 the call because that's not my understanding of 22 what he ruled so we should get a clarification. 23 MR. CAIRNS: All right. 24 MR. PLACITELLA: Okay. 25 MR. CAIRNS: Let's stop. Brody & Geiser (908} 738-8555 or (212) 732-0644 R. SENKOW Direct 34 1 (Off record phone call with 2 Judge Schackman.) 3 (Documents are marked as P-1, P-2 and P-3 4 for Identification.) 5 (On video record.) 6 Q During the time that you wo r k e d at 7 Westinghouse, say, from 1941 to 1980, did .Westinghouse 8 ever inform you that asbestos was dangerous to y our ' 9 health? 10 A Not ever, never. 11 Q Did W e s t i n g h o u s e e ver inform you that- if 12 you worked in the vicinity of laggers who were 13 i n s u l a t i n g the turbine that that could harm you in any 14 way? 15 A Nver. 16 Q Have you ever heard from Westinghouse of a 17 concept known as a MAC or a maximum allowable 18 concentration? 19 A Never. 20 Q Have you ever heard of the terminology 21 threshold limit value? 22 A No, never. 23 Q Have you ever heard of something called 24 the safe practice data sheet? 25 A No, not -- no. Brody & Geiser (908) 738-8555 or (212) 732-0644 R. SENKOW Direct 3 5 1 Q All right. 2 A No. 3 Q I'm going to show you what's been 4 premarked P-1 for Identification, ask you to take a 5 look at this. It's been admitted into evidence in this 6 case as the 1953 safe practice data sheet A-20, ask you 7 to take a look at that for a second. 8 A I never seen anything like this and this part 9 here really gets me. 10 Q Well, let me ask you a question first. 11 Have you ever seen this document before today? 12 A Never, never. 13 Q And were you ever told by Westinghouse, 14 for example, that it's only the fine invisible dust 15 particles that are effective in producing asbestosis? 16 A Never, nothing off that. E v e n t h e i r safety 17 equipment that they have written on the side there, 18 none of that was available for even the workers, their 19 laggers. 20 Q SO - 21 A Not even for them. 22 Q Where it says air-line respirator you 23 never saw such a thing? 24 A No way. No way. All they had was them that you 25 can buy in K-Mart or any -- that just like a little Brody & Geiser (908) 7 3 8 -8555 or (212) 732-0644 R. SENKOW - Direct 3 5 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 ( 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 dust mask. That's all they ever had in the tool cribs and most of the times they didn't have that. Q Did they ever tell you to wear that or you would be harmed by asbestos? A Never, never. Iii^-air-ou-trag-eous-- 3rxtrr Q Let me show you P-2 which is a process specification insulation of steam turbine and associated equipment and ask if you've ever seen a document like this before? *s A That document like that or like this*^ probably the only people that got this were industrial relations y and they put it in their book and forgot about it. Q I'm just going to ask you a question about the first page. Have you ever seen this document before? A No. Q Okay. The first page says caution, do not breathe dust from asbestos or refractory fiber. Was that ever told to you - A No. Q -- by Westinghouse? A Can I tell what you we did when -- every night or every shift - MR. CAIRNS: I object. It's non-responsive. Brody & Geiser (908) 738-8555 or (212) 732-0644 R. SENKOW - Direct 37 1 q Is there something else you'd like to add 2 to this, Mr. Senkow? 3 A Yeah, three shift operation. We worked 24 hours 4 a day, seven days a week. These laggers worked the 5 same time. After every shift the laggers, where they 6 worked on site and that dust, you know, they'd be 7 cutting these blocks and different things and muck and 8 all that stuff, the dust would be all over the place. 9 Then they would take an air hose and clean up their 10 area which we were all supposed to do, clean up your 11 area after you get, done working in it and the laggers 12 would use an aij/hose and once they started to blow it 13 off the tur^fne platform, it would be all over. You 14 woulcT'tr^ walking in dust. 15 q Were you ever told when that process was 16 going on that you should protect yourself? 17 A No, never, never. 18 Q Now - 19 A All we did was holler at the guy with the hose 20 and say - 21 q Now, whether or not you received this, was 22 any of the information in here communicated to you R. SENKOW Direct 38 1 individual. 2 Q By Westinghouse? 3 A By Westinghouse. 4 Q Now, I'm looking at P-3 which is a 5 January 11, 1946 memo from Mr. E.C. Barnes which has 6 been admitted in evidence in this case and it talks 7 about the use of asbestos in the manufacture of lagging 8 for heat insulation carried out in department W - 1 3 . 9 What is W-13? 10 A W-13 was where the sheet metal and the lagging 11 department was. 12 Q All right. Did you work in that 13 department ever? 14 A No, I worked about half a block away from there. 15 Q All right. Did you spend any time in that 16 area? 17 A A lot of time. 18 Q All right. Why? 19 A Well, like I say, my friend was a top -- I was 20 third shift. He was the head double A 1 lagger. He 21 sewed the blankets. He filled the blankets, made all 22 different things and we became personal friends and I'd 23 be there every night an hour, two hours. 24 Q While any insulating was going on? 25 A Yeah, I was sitting there drinking coffee, had a Brody & Geiser (908) 738-8555 or (212) 732-0644 R. SENKOW Direct 3 9 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 coffee pot going all the time. Q And while that was -- were you ever told while you were there that you should protect yourself? A Never. He didn't have no protection. He would wrap himself with cloth and put a cloth bag over his nose like this. We used to laugh about it, but if that, you know, we were on strike from January the 15th, 1946 to May the 15th, 1946 so I don't know what date that come out, maybe while we were out. Q And had you ever been told that you or any of your co-workers were found to have lung conditions possibly related to dust in 1946? A No, we didn't even know what it was. Q Okay. Mr. Senkow, that's all the questions I have as I sit here today. A Okay. MR. PLACITELLA: Thank you. MR. CAIRNS: Let's take a break for a minute and I'll see if I have anything. (Recess.) (Documents are marked as P-4 and P-5 for Identification.) MR. CAIRNS: I don't have any questions of this witness. Thank you. (Deposition adjourns at 10:55 a.m.) Brody & Geiser (908) 738-8555 or (212) 732-0644 --1 4 0 1 CERTIFICATION OF WITNESS 2 3 I have read the foregoing transcript of my 4 deposition and find it to be true and accurate to the 5 best of my knowledge and belief. 6 7 8 RUSSELL SENKOW 9 10 11 Sworn and subscribed to before me on this day 12 of , 1993 13 Notary My Commission Expires 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Brody & Ge i s e r (908) 738-8555 or (212) 732-0644 4 1 CERTIFICATE 2 I, ANDREA TEMPALSKY, Notary Public and 3 Certified Shorthand Reporter hereby certify that prior 4 to the commencement of the examination 5 RUSSELL SENKOW 6 was duly sworn by me to testify the truth, the whole 7 truth and nothing but the truth. 8 I DO FURTHER CERTIFY that the foregoing is 9 a true and accurate transcript of the testimony as 10 taken stenographically by and before me at the time, 11 place and on the date hereinbefore set forth. 12 I DO FURTHER CERTIFY that I am neither a 13 relative of nor employee nor attorney nor counsel for 14 any of the parties to this action and that I am neither 15 a relative nor employee of such attorney or counsel, 16 and that I am not financially interested in the action. 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Brody & Geiser (908) 738-8555 or (212) 732-0644