United States Gypsum Corporation, formerly United States Gypsum Company (USG), has been in business for 120 years. In case you’re not familiar with it, gypsum is a sulfate mineral that is mined and frequently used in different types of plaster, chalk, and drywall.
Founded in 1901 from the merger of 30 different plaster and gypsum companies, USG is a leading manufacturer of construction materials like wallboard and joint compound.
In 1909, USG acquired the Sackett Plaster Board Company.
In 1916, the company invented a product called Sheetrock – sheetrock is still a commonly used term (and product) in the construction industry regardless of which brand is being used.
We mentioned that gypsum is a mineral found in mines - can you think of another, a more notorious mineral that is also mined?
The company started using asbestos in its products in the early 1920s and continued for about 50 years. Joint compound, tape, and plaster products were among the most well-known and bestselling of USG’s selection.
USG’s 40+ asbestos-containing products reached both commercial and industrial building industries, and therefore, more people were potentially exposed to asbestos.
Like so many asbestos corporations, USG did not disclose knowledge that asbestos was dangerous to its employees and consumers. It reportedly hired a laboratory to research the hazards of dust in industrial settings in the 1930s but did not make the findings of this research known.
Though the company stopped including asbestos in its products in 1978, it did not escape asbestos injury litigation.
The company faced a reported 45,000 claims from USG workers (or family members) alone in the early 1990s. After paying millions of dollars in settlements and jury verdicts, USG filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on June 25, 2001.
Six years later, The United States Gypsum Asbestos Trust was established and began accepting claims on February 19, 2007. The trust was funded with almost $4 billion to start, and the current payment percentage is 12.7%.
In 2021, 14,531 claims were filed with the USG Trust, according to its annual financial report. Of the claims filed, 13,972 were paid, with the breakdown being 4,398 malignancy claims and 9,574 non-malignancy claims.
The report also details that $105,403,000 was paid out in claims in 2021, adding to a total of $3,855,000,000 that the Trust has paid since it was established.
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).
