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Eagle-Picher Industries Inc. v. Balbos8/29/1990
ing upon uncharted (Maryland) waters as to this issue, we look to these decisions for guidance.
In Fischer v. Johns-Manville Corp., 193 N.J.Super. 113, 472 A.2d 577(A.D. 1984), aff'd, 103 N.J. 643, 512 A.2d 466(1986), there was evidence that a defendant asbestos supplier had knowledge of asbestos hazards as early as the 1930's and failed to warn users of the hazards. In Fischer, the plaintiff's duties required that he regularly handle asbestos in various forms, causing him to inhale asbestos dust. Defendant was aware that these duties were hazardous and had already caused disease in others. In affirming the award of punitive damages, the court stated, "it is indeed appalling to us that Johns-Manville had so much information on the hazards to asbestos workers and that it not only failed to use the information to protect these workers but, more egregiously, that it also attempted to withhold this information from the public." Id. at 587.
In City of Greenville v. W.R. Grace & Co., 827 F.2d 975(4th Cir. 1987), the defendant, a manufacturer of an asbestos fireproofing product called Monokote, contended that the evidence was insufficient to support a finding that it acted willfully, wantonly, or recklessly, because there was no evidence that it had sold Monokote to plaintiff in conscious disregard of known dangers posed by the product. In affirming the lower court's award of punitive damages, the court pointed out that there was ample evidence that appellee knew of the health risks associated with exposure to asbestos at the time it sold the product, knew that the product often failed to bond properly, thus creating a danger that asbestos fibers would be released into the Greenville City Hall, and finally, at the time of the sale, defendant had already developed and begun selling an asbestos-free product in response to concerns and publicity about the health risks associated with asbestos.
The court in Wammock v. Celotex Corp., 835 F.2d 818(11th Cir. 1988), affirmed the lower court's award of punitive damages against a manufacturer of asbestos-containing
joint compound. The appellate court reviewed evidence presented that appellee knew of the hazards of asbestos exposure in other contexts, such as the hazards faced by miners, plant workers, and others who were exposed to higher concentrations of asbestos fibers than were workers in Wammock's position. The court, however, also considered the testimony of the former director of the Saranac laboratory, who testified that he wrote a letter to the manufacturer prior to 1964, criticizing the company for continuing to sell asbestos products without a warning, and the testimony of a former company officer that the manufacturer had failed to label its products until ordered to do so in 1972 by the government. Even after 1972, the manufacturer did not immediately label its products because customer demand for its products was too great to permit the delay that would result from labelling.
In affirming an award of punitive damages against asbestos-containing product manufacturer Johns Manville, the appellate court in Johns-Manville Sales Corp. v. Janssens, 463 So.2d 242(Fla.App. 1 Dist. 1984), relied on evidence that the company persisted until the 1960's in suppressing information that asbestos dust and fibers could cause asbestosis. The court also pointed out that the company's medical director recommended the use of warning labels in 1952 or earlier, but his recommendation was rejected because the warnings would have caused decreased product sales. The court further noted a report in the record indicating that the company had a policy of not telling employees about the results of X-rays that showed they were su
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