I.B.M. Lawyer Defends Company in Cancer Case Against Former Employees

Strategic Insights -

Robert C. Weber, a lawyer for I.B.M., is preparing to deliver closing arguments in a five-month-long trial involving two former employees who claim the company knowingly exposed them to dangerous chemicals. Weber has been leading the defense, arguing that the plaintiffs' charge of I.B.M. managers lying to them is a fabrication. The case has drawn attention from the technology industry, with legal experts warning that a favorable verdict for the workers could open the door to many more lawsuits. The trial has been marked by controversy, with Weber receiving death threats and a police officer being assigned to live with his family during the trial.

Key Takeaways:

  • The trial, which began in October, is a workplace hazards case brought by two former I.B.M. employees, Alida Hernandez and James Moore, who claim the company knowingly exposed them to dangerous chemicals.
  • Robert C. Weber, a partner at Jones Day, has been defending I.B.M. in the case, arguing that the plaintiffs' charge of I.B.M. managers lying to them is a fabrication.
  • The case has drawn attention from the technology industry, with legal experts warning that a favorable verdict for the workers could open the door to many more lawsuits.
  • The trial has been marked by controversy, with Weber receiving death threats and a police officer being assigned to live with his family during the trial.
  • The case involves the use of chemical solvents in an I.B.M. factory in South San Jose, California, in the 1970s and 1980s, which the plaintiffs claim caused them to develop cancer.
  • The plaintiffs, Hernandez and Moore, are seeking unspecified damages and claim that I.B.M. knowingly concealed the dangers of the chemicals they were using.
  • Weber has also argued that the case is a good example of what can go wrong when workers are allowed to seek damages outside of the state workers' compensation system.

Statistics:

  • The plaintiffs, Alida Hernandez and James Moore, worked at an I.B.M. factory in South San Jose, California, in the 1970s and 1980s.
  • Two years after Hernandez retired in 1991, she discovered she had breast cancer and eventually had a mastectomy.
  • In 1995, Moore was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, which has been treated with radiation.
  • The trial has lasted five months, with closing arguments beginning Monday in the California Superior Court in Santa Clara.

Sources:

  • "Weber, a Partner at Jones Day, argued that the plaintiffs' charge of I.B.M. managers lying to them is a fabrication."
  • "Richard Alexander, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, has presented a succession of witnesses, including a former I.B.M. nurse and occupational health and epidemiology experts, to show that not only did certain chemicals cause cancer but also that the company knew this and concealed it."
  • "The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, which has argued for more regulation of the technology manufacturing industry for 20 years, has been a vocal advocate for the plaintiffs."