Fibreboard Paper Products Company (FB), the original name of Fibreboard Corporation, was founded in California in 1884. The company ran an insulation manufacturing plant. By 1925, asbestos was a common ingredient in FB products.
In the 1920s, Fibreboard acquired a subsidiary company called PABCO Metals Corporation. PABCO manufactured asbestos-containing pipe covering, cement, and other insulation materials. Its products became more and more popular from the 1960s through 1972, when the company reportedly stopped using asbestos.
A well-known PABCO product was Caltemp, an asbestos pipe insulation that also came in block form and could withstand 600 degree temperatures or higher. According to product manuals, Caltemp was made up of uncalcined - which means not reduced to ash/not treated at a high temperature - diatomaceous earth blended with amosite asbestos.
Like fellow industry members, asbestos injury claims had been piling up against the company since as early as 1966. It is estimated that by 1991, FB faced approximately 80,000 individual injury claims.
The financial strain of the number of claims brought against FB proved to be too much for the company. It filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy on October 5, 2000. A combined bankruptcy trust was established with Owens Corning as OC purchased FB in 1997.
The Owens Corning/Fibreboard Asbestos Personal Injury Trust was formed in 2006 and began accepting claims in 2007.
The Trust’s website has a table of “Scheduled Payment Values” (also shown on the screen) which provides the range of payment that can be awarded for varying levels of injury from the diagnosis of an asbestos related disease. Non-malignant injuries like asbestosis fall on one end of the spectrum, while malignant diseases like mesothelioma fall on the higher end.
The current payment percentage for Fibreboard (FB) is 6.7%, meaning that individuals will receive 6.7% of the values to the right for compensation of claims.
In 2021, 14,793 new claims were filed with the Trust. It paid out 18,941 claims (many were filed before 2021), totaling approximately $43.02 million.
6,261 claimants that received compensation had cancer or mesothelioma, and 12,680 had asbestosis or pleural disease.
The Trust has $974 million in remaining funds to pay future claims, with $341.6 million for Fibreboard-specific claims.
We’ve helped thousands of people receive the compensation they deserve for their asbestos injuries. Let us help you. You can contact asbestos attorney Justinian C. Lane at Asbestos Claims Law via his website at http://www.AsbestosClaims.law.
Email directly at help@asbestosclaims.law.
Or call anytime at (833) 4-ASBESTOS (427-2378).
