"I think the less said about asbestos, the better off we are." On October 1, 1935, Sumner Simpson—president of Raybestos-Manhattan—wrote those thirteen words to the general counsel of Johns-Manville. This letter, hidden in a vault for 42 years, would eventually appear in thousands of lawsuits and cost the asbestos industry billions. Episode 20 reveals how the first American asbestos lawsuit (1929) didn't end with a verdict—it ended with a $30,000 settlement, a silenced attorney, and a template for decades of corporate suppression.

In this episode:

• The 1929 Pirskowski lawsuit: 11 workers sued Johns-Manville and split $30,000—roughly $2,727 each (about $68,000 today)
• How attorney Samuel Greenstone was forced to agree he would never "directly or indirectly participate in the bringing of new actions against the Corporation"
• The editor of Asbestos magazine who agreed to publish nothing about asbestosis for "certain obvious reasons"
• Dr. Anthony Lanza's 1935 study showing 87% of long-term workers had lung fibrosis—and the sentence the companies deleted before publication
• Johns-Manville executive Vandiver Brown's admission: "Yes. We save a lot of money that way"
• 6,000 documents discovered in 1977 that proved industry-wide coordination

Who this episode is for: Anyone researching how corporations suppressed asbestos health information. Families investigating occupational exposure at Johns-Manville plants. Legal professionals studying the origins of asbestos litigation. History enthusiasts tracing the roots of modern corporate accountability.

Expert perspective: "The industry said 'the less said, the better.' This firm has spent three decades saying more." — Larry Gates, Senior Client Advocate at Danziger & De Llano, whose father died of mesothelioma after working at the Shell refinery in Pasadena, Texas.

Resources:
→ Mesothelioma compensation options: https://dandell.com/mesothelioma-compensation/
→ Larry Gates, Senior Client Advocate: https://dandell.com/larry-gates/
→ Understanding asbestos exposure: https://dandell.com/asbestos-exposure/
→ Free consultation: https://dandell.com/contact-us/

Asbestos: A Conspiracy 4,500 Years in the Making is sponsored by Danziger & De Llano Mesothelioma Law Firm, a nationwide practice with over 30 years of experience and nearly $2 billion recovered for asbestos victims. If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, the exposure happened somewhere—and Paul Danziger and Rod De Llano know how to trace it back. For a free consultation, visit https://dandell.com.

Resources:

→ Mesothelioma legal rights: https://dandell.com/mesothelioma/

→ Asbestos exposure sources: https://dandell.com/asbestos-exposure/

→ Asbestos trust funds ($30B+ available): https://dandell.com/asbestos-trust-funds/

→ Free case evaluation: https://dandell.com/contact/

Sister Podcast - MESO: The Mesothelioma Podcast:

http://mesotheliomapodcast.com/