UM Grace Case

Wednesday morning, the prosecution packaged its entire case into three hours for the jury, connecting specific evidence with each of the eight counts against W.R. Grace and the remaining three defendants. Government attorney Kris McLean covered the conspiracy count, followed by attorney Kevin Cassidy outlining the remaining counts of knowing endangerment and obstruction of [...]

The government knew about the dangers of asbestos for many years before taking W.R. Grace to court, W.R. Grace lead defense attorney David Bernick asserted during his cross-examination of Frank Kover. The company also complied with the government’s past information requests, Bernick argued.
Kover, a retired Environmental Protection Agency industrial hygienist, testified on documents from [...]

 Physician James Lockey testified Wednesday afternoon about a pair of studies examining symptoms of asbestos exposure in workers at an O.M. Scott plant in Marysville, Ohio.  The plant used Libby vermiculite in its gardening products.  Under direct examination from prosecutor Kris McLean, Lockey testified that some of the workers suffered localized plaques, diffuse thickening and [...]

John Kennedy, former general counsel for OM Scott from 1973-1984, a customer of WR Grace, took the stand after the morning break. His testimony was methodic and tight as he told the story of how OM Scott came to be involved with asbestos during his time at the company.
Kennedy explained that a local doctor called [...]

The government began the morning’s court proceedings by calling their next witness, Sergeant Chamberlain from Marysville, Ohio. Chamberlain worked for the O.M. Scott Company for 50 years and retired in 1999. He began working in 1949 as a bookkeeper, became purchasing manager in 1958 and later was promoted to director of purchasing around the late ’60s [...]