Jump to full article: The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition, 2000-12-05
Author: Cathleen Egan / Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5289
Intro: The tobacco industry shouldn't have to pay claims to injured asbestos workers if the trust fund set up to do just that hasn't met its own financial obligation to those workers, an industry attorney argued in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn on Tuesday. . .
Bernick showed copies of claim forms in which the trust, in calculating what it owed individual workers, subtracted out what it calls "non-Manville" items such as tobacco influences and exposure to asbestos by companies other than Johns-Manville.
"Johns-Manville only wanted to pay the Manville share," Bernick said in his opening statement Tuesday afternoon. In other words, the trust only paid for Johns-Manville's portion of the liability of the sick asbestos workers. And even then, Bernick said, the trust has only paid 10% of its share.
"The trust has not yet paid out all of Manville's liability," Bernick said in court.
"Did they pay for tobacco?" Bernick asked, shaking his head. "Did they pay for all of Manville's liability?" he asked, again shaking his head.
"What's the problem in this case? It's a fairness case. Is it fair for tobacco to pay for Manville trust's liability problems? How does the trust answer this problem? They want tobacco companies to pay. They want to put us on the map."
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