Cahill Gordon & Reindel’s asbestos problem began on June 15, 2009, when David Swanson, a 73-year-old retired chemical engineer, walked into the offices of Cohen, Placitella & Roth in the seaside town of Red Bank, N.J. Swanson had worked for 37 years as a research engineer at New Jersey-based Engelhard Corporation and predecessor companies, retiring in 1996. Now his daughter, Donna Paduano, was suing his former employer, and Swanson was about to be deposed for the first time in his life.
Paduano had mesothelioma, a deadly cancer of the lining of the lung that is strongly linked to asbestos exposure. Paduano claimed that her father was exposed to asbestos on the job, and that she came into contact with it from his work clothes and from her visits to his laboratory. One potential source of asbestos, she claimed, was the talc that her father tested and handled. From 1967 to 1983 Engelhard mined, marketed and sold talc as a harmless mineral for a host of manufacturing uses, including as a dusting agent and a component in auto body filler. It was a small part of the company’s business; Engelhard’s main product line was catalytic converters.
