Manville

1.0 Introduction Johns Manville originated in New York, in 1858 when the H.W. Johns Manufacturing Company was founded. H.W. Johns Manufacturing Company used asbestos to manufacture fire resistant roofing. In 1886, another company based in Milwaukee, the Manville Covering Company was founded and began manufacturing asbestos heart insulation. In 1901, the two companies merged and formed the H.W. Johns Manville Company. In addition to asbestos roofing and insulation, the company branched out into producing asbestos automotive sheet cylinder packing, asbestos acoustical products and asbestos cement. In 1958, Johns Manville branched out into fiberglass. The company moved its headquarters from New York to Denver, Colorado, in 1972, and two years later became one of the leading U.S manufactures of PVC pipe, asbestos cement pipe and fiberglass. However, when thousands of people began developing serious illness as a result of asbestos exposure from Johns Manville products and filed lawsuits, the company filed for bankruptcy in 1982. In 1988, the company emerged from bankruptcy and founded the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust. Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. acquired Johns Manville in 2001. And today the company produces insulation and construction products. However, its product line is now made with fiberglass and polyurethane. The company also won awards for its formaldehyde-free insulation. Because of its extensive use of asbestos since Johns Manville was founded, hundreds of thousands of asbestos injury claims and lawsuits have been filed against the company. In fact, as early as 1929 employees filed health claims against the company.
One of the lawsuits filed before the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust, which was founded in 1988, was Cavett.vs. Johns Manville Sales Corporation. James Cavett worked as a boilermaker for 40 years beginning in 1939. He repaired and built boilers in numerous plants. While working as a boilermaker, he worked around boiler