Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc., and its parent company Hanson Permanente Cement, Inc. were manufacturers and sellers of several products containing asbestos. Those products sickened tens of thousands of workers, and the two companies were named in over 38,000 asbestos-related lawsuits. With 14,000 pending lawsuits and an unknown number of future claims, the companies sought Chapter 11 relief in 2016.[1]
Kaiser Gypsum Company History and Asbestos
Industrialist Henry John Kaiser was already a successful builder by the mid-1930s. After purchasing a failing road-building company, he built dams in California, levees in Mississippi, and highways in Cuba. After playing a pivotal role in building the Hoover Dam and the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge, he placed a losing bid on building the Shasta Dam.[2]
Rather than walk away from the project, he bid on a contract to supply the cement and aggregate for it, despite not owning a facility that could provide the materials. He purchased the mineral rights to dig a limestone quarry in the area known as the Permanente Quarry, established the Permanente Corporation, and won the supply bid, then established the Kaiser Permanente Cement Plant in 1939 to supply the estimated 6 million barrels of cement needed for the dam.
As Kaiser Permanente took on more projects, it expanded its assets. In 1947, Permanente acquired a controlling interest in the Pacific Coast Cement Company, and in 1952 incorporated as Kaiser Gypsum, which merged with Pacific Coast Cement and established its headquarters in Washington State. In 1964, the original cement company changed its name to Kaiser Gypsum & Cement Company, and the company began expanding its product line to include fiberboard, joint compound, and other products contaminated with asbestos. In 1978, Kaiser Gypsum was sold due to thousands of asbestos liability claims, and in 2016 the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Asbestos Products Manufactured and Sold by Kaiser Gypsum
Asbestos is a product that has been used for centuries as a strengthening and insulating agent. Until the mid-1970s, it was used in a wide range of building and construction products, many of which were manufactured and sold by Kaiser Gypsum. The workers who used these products as part of their daily responsibilities, as well as many people who used them for home renovation and do-it-yourself projects, were exposed to the asbestos fibers in these products and were later diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, and other serious and deadly asbestos-related diseases.
Kaiser Gypsum Company and its parent company Hanson Permanente Cement, Inc. were named as defendants in over 38,000 asbestos liability claims. The individual asbestos-containing products manufactured or sold by either Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc. or Hanson Permanente Cement, Inc. were:[3]
- Plastic Gun Cement
- Plastic Cement (Hand)
- Masonry Cement
- Plastite
- Plasti-Spread
- Cover-Tex Texture Paint
- Spray-Tex/Cover-Tex Spray Texture Paint
- Kaiser-Tex Texture Paint
- Kaiser Gypsum Cover-Tex Wall Texture
- Kaiser Gypsum K-Spray Ceiling Texture
- Kaiser Joint Compound-Powder
- Kaiser Gypsum Finishing
- Kaiser Gypsum 3-Purpose Wallboard/Joint Compound
- Kaiser Gypsum One-Day Joint Compound
- Kaiser Gypsum Pre-Mix Joint Compound
- Kaiser Gypsum Pre-Mix Finishing Compound
- Kaiser Gypsum Pre-Mix Taping Compound
- Kaiser Gypsum Dual Purpose Premix Compound
- Pre-Mix Topping Compound/Kaiser Gypsum PreMix Topping Compound
- Kaiser Gypsum Laminating Compound
- Spackling Compound
- Kaiser Gypsum Filler Compound
- Kaiser Gypsum Radiant Heat Joint Compound
- Kaiser Gypsum Radiant Heat Scrimless Surfacing Compound
- Kaiser Gypsum Radiant Heat Compound
- Kaiser Gypsum Radiant Heat Surfacing Compound
- Kaiser Gypsum Pre-mix Radiant Heat Joint Compound
- Kaiser Gypsum X-Terior Premix Prefill
- Kaiser Gypsum Null-A-Fire Type-X Gypsum Wallboard
- 2-Hour Fire-Rated Kaiser Gypsum Mineral Fiberboard UL Fire-Rated
- Kaiser Gypsum X-Terior Premix Wall Texture Compound
As a result of these liabilities, the companies discontinued manufacturing and selling these products between 1971 and 1975.
People at Risk of Asbestos Exposure from Kaiser Products
Kaiser Gypsum Company’s asbestos-contaminated products were largely used in residential and industrial building projects. The workers who were most at risk for being exposed to and sickened by asbestos from these products include:
- Construction workers
- Carpenters
- Demolition workers
- Drywall finishers
- Painters
- Workers at Kaiser Gypsum factories where their asbestos-contaminated products were manufactured
- Family members of Kaiser Gypsum factory workers and workers exposed to Kaiser Gypsum’s asbestos-contaminated products.
Asbestos Lawsuits Against Kaiser Gypsum
Kaiser Gypsum Company and Hanson Permanente Cement, Inc. were named in over 38,000 asbestos liability claims filed by people diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, and other asbestos-related diseases. By the time they filed for bankruptcy, they still faced over 14,000 individual claims.[4]
The personal injury lawsuits accused the company of product liability and negligence in failing to warn its users of the health risks posed by the asbestos in the products. Many plaintiffs submitted proof that the company had known of the risks when it first began producing the items, many of which consisted of as much as 15% asbestos. Notably, individuals diagnosed with mesothelioma continue to file personal injury lawsuits against the company.
Among the many notable verdicts delivered against Kaiser Gypsum were:
- Raymond Budd sued the company after being diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma. He blamed asbestos in the company’s joint compound, which he used from 1962 to 1972. The jury returned a verdict in Mr. Budd’s favor, awarding him $13.5 million.[5]
- In 2023, Kaiser Gypsum was ordered to pay $20 million in punitive damages to a woman whose husband died of malignant pleural mesothelioma following decades of working as a plumber and pipefitter at construction sites. The jury assessed punitive damages after learning that the company had taken action to protect its own employees from mesothelioma, but had chosen not to extend the same warnings or protections to customers.
Bankruptcy and Asbestos Trust Fund
Facing 13,967 asbestos lawsuits, Kaiser Gypsum and Hanson Permanente filed for bankruptcy protection in 2016. The Kaiser Gypsum Asbestos Personal Injury Trust was established in 2021 to process and pay valid asbestos personal injury claims in a fair, equitable, and substantially similar way to all applicants. The trust was funded with over $49 million in cash and began accepting claims on October 10, 2022.[6]
In April 2024, the Trustee of the trust filed an annual report, financial statements, and claims summary for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023. At that time there were 502 insured asbestos claims in the queue and 474 pending.[7]
If You Were Exposed to Kaiser Gypsum Asbestos Products
The Kaiser Gypsum Asbestos Personal Injury Trust is actively paying asbestos victims for valid claims. An experienced mesothelioma attorney will be able to provide you with all of the information you need on your eligibility and how to file a claim.
