> Date: Fri, 27 Feb 1998 11:18:51 -0800 (PST) > From: "Camp. Resp. Tech." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Deaths Blamed on IBM--JOIN OUR LIST-SERVE > > >Published Monday, February 23, 1998, in the San Jose Mercury News > > > >Deaths blamed on IBM: Its workers allegedly were exposed to cancer-causing > chemicals. > > > > > >Mercury News Staff Writer > > > >Citing a high incidence of cancer among workers at IBM Corp. in San Jose, a > wrongful death lawsuit filed last week in Santa Clara County Superior Court > blames the company for exposing employees to fatal levels of cancer-causing > chemicals since the mid-1960s. > > > > The lawsuit was brought on behalf of the families of five former San > Jose International Business Machines Corp. workers who have died of cancer, > as well as four other current or former IBM employees now stricken with the > disease. In addition to IBM, the suit names as defendants a host of other > companies responsible for manufacturing the chemicals used by IBM, including > Shell Oil Co. and Union Carbide Corp. > > > > However, the suit focuses mostly on IBM and whether the company took the > necessary precautions for employees who worked in ``clean rooms'' and areas > where disk drives and microcircuitry were manufactured. All the workers > involved in the court case, including the five who died of cancer -- Michael > White, John Thomas, Suzanne Rubio, Mose Jefferson and Christopher Corpuz -- > worked in such chemical-filled environments. > > > > ``Motivated by a desire for unwarranted economic gain and profit, > defendants willfully and recklessly ignored knowledge . . . of the health > hazards,'' the suit states. ``The objective of these defendants was > maximizing production, but in doing so, these defendants endangered the > health, welfare and safety of IBM workers.'' > > > > IBM spokeswoman Tara Sexton said Friday the company would have no > comment because officials had not yet reviewed the suit. In the past, IBM > and other representatives of the semiconductor industry have defended their > safety records, denying any link between work conditions and cancer clusters. > > > > IBM has been confronted with similar allegations in recent years as > current and former IBM chemists and researchers have come forward with > concerns about what they contend has been a mysterious pattern of cancer > among certain workers, particularly those toiling in the clean rooms. > > > > A story last year in the Mercury News' West magazine detailed how some > of these employees have tried to get IBM to examine the issue. For example, > Gary Adams, a longtime IBM chemist who has fought cancer, alerted the > company to his concerns as early as the mid-1980s, according to that account. > > > > Adams, a Campbell resident, is not a plaintiff in the Santa Clara > County lawsuit but has described in detail how IBM colleagues and friends > contracted cancer over many years. His calls for medical monitoring programs > were rejected by top IBM officials, who assured him such a program was > unnecessary. > > > > Another lawsuit involving the IBM safety issue has been pending in New > York since 1996, when lawyers targeted Union Carbide and other manufacturers > of the chemicals used by IBM. That suit now involves more than 100 > plaintiffs, including the families of 11 people dead of cancer. > > > > The sweeping suit, known on the East Coast as simply the ``IBM case,'' > attributes a variety of cancers to chemicals used in the semiconductor > industry, particularly within IBM. > > > > San Jose attorney Amanda Hawes, who has been involved in the massive New > York case, filed last week's suit in Santa Clara County. She said the case > is aimed at forcing IBM to correct a long history of health problems for the > company's workers. > > > > ``It concerns me that given all the technology we have at our > fingertips, what were they doing with it?'' Hawes said. ``The story about > the IBM scientists (and cancer) has been out there.'' > > > > The suit alleges that IBM has misled its employees for years by assuring > them that the clean rooms were safe and had been tested for side effects and > carcinogens. Hawes' court papers maintain IBM has ``no factual basis'' for > those assertions and never conducted tests to determine whether employees > were exposed to hazardous chemicals. > > > > The IBM employees involved in the suit held various positions, such as > researchers and scientists, but all had ``hands-on'' exposure to the > chemicals, according to Hawes. Some were young when they contracted cancer: > Suzanne Rubio was 36 when she died of breast cancer. > > > > ``People are told that clean means safe,'' Hawes said of IBM's attitude > about the clean rooms. ``The average person assumes when they hear that that > somebody has actually investigated, and (IBM) can't make that showing.'' > > > > The suit does not specify a dollar amount but is seeking punitive > damages against IBM and the chemical makers. > > > > > >1997 - 1998 Mercury Center. The information you receive online from Mercury > Center is protected by the copyright laws of the United States. > > > > > >_________________________________________________________________ > > > > > >And from Reuters, > > > > > >CALIFORNIA CANCER VICTIMS SUE IBM > > > >07:53 p.m Feb 23, 1998 Eastern > > > >SAN JOSE, Calif. (Reuters) - A group of <strong>cancer</strong> victims and > their families has sued IBM Corp., alleging the computer company's San Jose, > California, plant exposed employees to fatal levels of cancer-causing > chemicals for some three decades, a lawyer for the group said Monday. > > > >Amanda Hawes said the suit filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court last > week also named several other companies that make the chemicals used by > International Business Machines Corp., including Shell Oil Co. and Union > Carbide Corp. > > > >The wrongful death suit alleges that IBM ``willfully and recklessly'' > ignored health concerns over chemicals used in ''clean rooms'' where disk > drives and microcircuitry are manufactured. > > > >``Clean doesn't necessarily mean safe,'' said Hawes, who brought the suit > on behalf of families of five former IBM employees who have died of cancer > and four more now battling the disease. > > > >``The materials used in this industry may be very advanced tech but it > doesn't mean that they are free of risk to the workers,'' Hawes said. > ``These are people who always thought they were being totally protected.'' > > > >Tara Sexton, an IBM spokesperson, said the company did not comment on > on-going litigation. > > > >``IBM has a longstanding commitment to a safe working environment, and > compliance with all health and safety regulations and laws,'' Sexton said. > > > >The suit alleges that IBM did not adequately test the human health effects > of ``clean room'' chemicals, to which scientists and researchers are exposed > as part of the manufacturing process. > > > >Victims involved in the suit suffered from various types of cancer > including: melanoma, non-Hodgkins lymphoma, renal cell cancer, breast cancer > and cancer of the salivary glands. > > > >``These are all relatively young people,'' Hawes said, noting that the suit > sought punitive damages against IBM and the chemical makers. > > > >A separate suit was filed in New York in 1996 aimed at the chemical > manufacturers, alleging that a wide variety of <strong>cancers</strong> > could be traced to chemicals used in the semiconductor industry. > > > >``It is disturbing that some of these materials are closely guarded trade > secrets, which is more important than getting to the bottom of their > potential for human harm,'' Hawes said. > > > >Copyright: 1994-98 > > Infoseek Corporation All rights reserved. > > > > > Leslie Byster > Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition > 760 N. First Street > San Jose, CA 95112 > 408-287-6707-phone > 408-287-6771-fax > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >NOW AVAILABLE AT OUR WEBSITE -- New information about our new book, SACRED > WATERS: LIFE-BLOOD OF MOTHER EARTH, Four Case Studies of High-Tech Water > Exploitation and Corporate Welfare in the Southwest > > http://www.svtc.org/svtc/ > > > > > >
