In 1858, Henry Ward Johns started manufacturing roofing shingles in his New York City basement, using a very key ingredient: asbestos. Fast forward about 50 years, Manville Covering Company (a Milwaukee pipe insulation company) joined forces with Johns to form the H.W. Johns-Manville Company.
The company was renamed Johns-Manville Corporation (JM) in the mid-1920s, and eventually became the world’s largest supplier of asbestos. They had many asbestos mines and factories, and milled millions of cubic tons of asbestos which were used in products, vehicles and buildings of all kinds.
JM boasted a product line that put asbestos in almost anything you can think of, amounting to more than 1200 products.
The company worked tirelessly to maintain its status as a leading asbestos manufacturer, but it neglected to share an important detail with its workers, customers, and the public. Asbestos exposure was dangerous, and even deadly.
JM spent decades working covertly with doctors, attorneys, and other members of the asbestos industry to make sure employees did not learn that their work was dangerous for their health.
JM’s company physician, Dr. Kenneth Smith, listened to Dr. Anthony Lanza of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company when he advised against informing workers of the risks of asbestos exposure to better avoid future legal trouble.
Johns-Manville faced worker’s compensation claims due to pulmonary diseases among its employees as early as 1929. From the 1940s-1970s, more and more claims were filed against the company. By 1982, it was facing over 11,000 asbestos injury claims.
On August 26, 1982, JM became the first asbestos company to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It paved the way for other asbestos companies to do the same.
An asbestos trust was set up to provide compensation to qualifying claimants in 1988. It was funded with $2.5 billion, which in today’s money, is around $6.3 billion.
In 2021, 20,722 claims were settled with the Manville Asbestos Personal Injury Settlement Trust, according to its annual financial report.
The report also details that $64,268,975 was paid out in claims in 2021, adding to the more than $5 billion that the Trust has paid since it was established. Today, about $658 million remains in the trust.
The company made a lot of money, and they harmed a lot of people. That’s why the Johns Manville Asbestos trust is so large.
It’s also why nearly everyone harmed by being exposed to asbestos prior to 1982 qualifies for compensation from the Johns Manville Trust.
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).
