Document vVQpawYebjzvJR45m4raZLwpb
FILE NAME: Mahoning Valley Supply (MVS) DATE: 1996 Dec 12 DOC#: MVS001 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Legal - Deposition of David Williams
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1 STATE OF OHIO
) } SS: IN THE COURT OF COMMON FLEAS
2 CUYAHOGA COUNTY )
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DEPOSITION OF DAVID WILLIAMS
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7 ROBERT ALEXANDER, JR., ET AL. )
WILLIE MACK ALLEN, ET AL.
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8 EMMETT BAKER, ET AL.
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ADELINE HESSKE, ET AL.
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95-287481 95-286145 95-288991
94-280550
IO
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DEPOSITION taken before me, Teresa L. Noc.e-Reedy, a
13 Notary Public within and for the State of Ohio, on the 12th
14 Day of December, A.D., 1996, pursuant to agreement and at
15 the time and place therein specified, to be used pursuant
16 to the Rules of Civil Procedure or by agreement of counsel
17 in the above cause of action, pending in the Court of
18 Common Pleas, within and for the County of Cuyahoga, State
19 of Ohio.
20
NAGY--BAXR COURT REPORTING, INC. (330) 746-7479
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WHEREUPON,
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DAVID WILLIAMS,
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of lawful age, being by me first duly
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sworn to testify the truth, the whole
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truth, and nothing but the truth, as
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hereinafter certified, deposes and
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says as follows:
8 CROSS EXAMINATION: 9 By Mr. White
10 Q
Will you state your full name?
11 A
David E. Williams. Do you want the
12 middle name?
13 Q
No, that's all right.
14
What is your business address?
15 A
691 McClurg Road, Youngstown, Ohio.
16 Mailing address is P.0. Box 1050.
17 Q
That's fine. For whom are you employed?
18 A
Mahoning Valley Supply Company.
19 Q
How long have you worked for
20 Mahoning Valley Supply?
21 A
May 1, 1976, which would be just a little
22 over 20 years.
23 Q
What's your position with Mahoning Valley
24 right now?
25 A
President, Chief Executive Officer.
NAGY-BAKER COURT REPORTING, INC. (330) 746-7479
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1Q 2A
How long have you been president? Since 1984. January 1, I believe it was.
3Q
Prior to being employed with Mahoning
4 Valley Supply, for whom did you work?
5A
White Motor Coverings in Cleveland.
6Q
How long did you work for White Motors?
7A
Nine years.
a Q9A
Prior to that firm for whom? International Harvester Company.
10 Q
How many years with International?
11 A
Six years.
12 Q
Prior to that?
13 A
United States Air Force.
14 Q .
What years are we talking about in the
15 Air Force?
16 A
I was in the Reserves for the Air Force.
17 I was on six months' active duty beginning in February of
18 '61, February or March of '61; and I was off of active
19 duty late August of '61.
20 Q 21 A
How old are you, Mr. Williams? Fifty-nine.
22 Q
23 A
Before 1961, were you employed? Part-time employee when I was finishing
24 up college.
25 Q
Where did you-go to college?
nAGY^RARER c OUHT'-rTSPORTiG7 TTC7 (330) 746-7479
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1A 2Q
Youngstown State University. What did you do for International
3 Harvester generally?
4A
I was salesman and - - a territory
5 manager is what it was called, and worked with truck
6 dealers for International Harvester.
7Q
With White Motors what did you do?
8A
Similarly, I directed sales from our
9 branches and was then territory manager, which was again
10 working with dealers; and following that I became regional
11 sales manager.
12 Q
How long has Mahoning Valley Supply
13 been in existence?
14 A
It was founded April 1, 1937. Just short
of 60 years.
Q
Who found the company?
A
Clifford D. Williams.
Q
Is he your father?
A
Yes.
Q
Is your father still living?
A
No.
Q
Has thebusiness of MahoningValley
supply since 1937 to the present time been pretty much the
same? A
Well, it's grown in scope, in the scope
NAGY- BAKER~roUftT"REP5R'TTNG', INC. (330) 746-7479
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1 of the product lines --
2Q
What is the business --
3A
-- from its inception.
4Q
What is the business, and what has
5 become of the business of Mahoning Valley Supply?
6A
Well, to categorize it, we are considered
7 a wholesale industrial distributor selling products used by
8 industry. We don't sell retail to individual consumers.
9
Does Mahoning Valley Supply manufacture
10 any products?
11 A
Nothing.
12 Q 13 A
So it's strictly sales? Strictly sales. Strictly we buy it,
14 put it on the shelf; we take it off the shelf; we deliver
15 it to the customer.
16 Q
When you buy from the manufacturer --
17 A
Yes, we do.
18 Q
- - d o you relabel it?
19 A
No, we don't .
20
Q
Do you ever relabel it?
21 A
No, we don't.
22 Q
Do you repackage it?
23 A
Some items we would sell, to give you an
24 example, would be connecting links for chain. They will
25 come in a box.
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1Q 2A 3Q 4A 5Q
Republic in Massilon? Yes. Timken, did you sell to Timken? Yes. Any other mills in Canton that you sold
6 to?
7A
I think you just about named them all.
8 Q
What Youngstown Sheet & Tube facilities
9 did you sell to? Do you recall?
10 A
Youngstown.
11 Q 12 A
Can you be more specific? Yes, the mills they had in Youngstown.
13 Q
Do you remember any of the names or the
I 14 locations?
15 A
It was Campbell Works in Campbell, Ohio;
16 and the Brier Hill Works, which is near the west side of
17 Youngstown.
18 Q
Brier Hill?
19 A
Uh-huh.
20 Q
Any US Steelfacilities, ones -- did you
21 sell in Youngstown?
22 A
The Ohio Works andMcDonaldWorks.
23 Q
Did you sell to LTV or J&L in Youngstown?
24 A
We sold to a J&L plant, which was not a
25 metal producer.
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MR. MERRIAM: And the answer he is
2 referring to is No. 9.
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MR. WHITE: Yes.
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MR. MERRIAM: Why don't you take a
5 look at No. 9 in the text behind the answers?
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THE WITNESS: Nine?
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MR. MERRIAM: Yeah.
8
THE WITNESS : That's what I remember
9 saying. We distributed insulation and asbestos paper
10 manufactured by Johns-Manvilie.
11 Q
(BY MR. WHITE) Did Mahoning Valley Supply
12 distribute asbestos-containing insulation products?
13 A
I have no direct knowledge of that.
14 Q
What asbestos-containing products did
15 Mahoning Valley Supply distribute from the date of its
16 inception until the present time, to your knowledge?
17 A
We began representing Manville in 1960.
18 They made a lot of products; not all were asbestos. We 19 represented them until they kind of went away by attrition
20 after they got into their legal problems. We never heard
21 from them. You couldn't get any information from them, and
22 we just didn't do -- business with them ended.
23 Q
What year was that?
24 A
Manville filed bankruptcy -- well, this
25 relates to '72 (Indicating). We sold fiberglass insulation
tfAGY-BAKER COURT REPORTING', INC! (330) 746-7479
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The fact that I know we represented
2 Manville.
3Q
Did you know Johns-Manville Company made
4 and sold asbestos-containing insulation products?
5A
X have learned since this litigation and
6 their filing for Chapter 11.
7Q
When you started working for Mahoning
* a Valley in 1976, at that time Mahoning Valley was
X, 9 representing Johns-Manville?
10 A
That's correct.
11 Q
What do you mean Mahoning Valley was
12 representing Johns-Manville?
13 A
We were a distributor for them.
14 Q
Was there some type of agreement in
15 effect?
16 A
Yes, there was.
17 Q
Was that written, reduced to writing?
18 A
Yes.
19 Q
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Do you have that agreement? THE WITNESS: I sent it to you.
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MR. MERRIAM: Do we have it?
22
THE WITNESS: I don't know. That was
23 19 -- late eighties.
24 Q
(BY MR-. WHITE) You sent it to whom? Your
25 attorney?
NAGY-BAKER COURT REPORTING, INC. (330) 746-7479
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1Q
After I960, did your company enter into
2 any additional distribution agreements with Johns-Manville?
3A
No.
4Q
Did there come a point into time when
5 your company or Johns-Manville terminated the distribution
6 agreement?
7A
No.
8Q
Is that distribution agreement that was
9 made in 1960 still in effect?
10
MR. MERRIAM: Objection. If you
11 know. If you're able to make a legal conclusion like that.?
12 A
We are not buying anything from them and
13 have not for a long time.
14 Q
From Johns-Manville?
15 A
Yeah.
16 Q
When did you last buy from
17 Johns-Manville?
18 A
Mid- to late eighties.
19 Q
What were you buying from Johns-Manville
20 in the middle to late eighties?
21 A
Fiberglass insulation.
22 Q 23 A
Anything else? No.
24 Q
Beginning in 1963 through the middle
25 to late eighties can you tell me all the products that
NAGY-BAKER COURT REPORTING, INC. (330) 746-7479