The Quigley Company manufactured refractory products used in a variety of high-heat settings. Many of the products that it sold between the 1940s and 1970s contained asbestos, the mineral that has been linked to malignant mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, and other serious illnesses. The company was named in hundreds of thousands of personal injury claims seeking compensation for damages suffered as a result of exposure to its products. It filed for bankruptcy relief in 2004 and established an asbestos bankruptcy trust in 2013.
Quigley Company History and Asbestos
The Quigley Company, Inc. was founded in 1916 as a refractory company, manufacturing and selling linings for high-temperature furnaces and other processing units. As the company grew, it sold products to the iron, steel, power generation, petroleum, chemical, and glass industries. Starting in the 1940s, the company made and/or sold several products that contained asbestos. [1] It stopped manufacturing asbestos-containing products in 1973 or early 1974.[2]
In 1968, all of Quigley’s stock was purchased by Pfizer, Inc. Though today Pfizer is known as a global pharmaceutical company, it once manufactured asbestos-containing products including an acoustical plaster and a product used to treat and insulate military armaments.
Quigley was first named as a defendant in asbestos-related personal injury claims in 1979 or 1980. By 1985, Quigley and Pfizer’s attempts to deal with the growing number of asbestos claims led to an agreement under which the claims were administered by the Asbestos Claims Facility, but that entity was dissolved in 1986. In 1992, Quigley sold all of its operating assets and stopped operating any businesses. Claims were later administered by the Center for Claims Resolution (CCR), a non-profit organization, but the relationship between CCR, Quigley, and Pfizer terminated in 2001.
The companies also participated in a class-action settlement that was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as an unsuccessful effort by a group of asbestos defendants to divert cases from the tort system into an industry and insurance-funded trust to process claims. By 2003, Pfizer resurrected Quigley as an independent, operating entity with the goal of filing a Chapter 11 case. By the time of its bankruptcy petition, Quigley Company had been named as a defendant in approximately 411,100 asbestos personal injury claims contained within 131,500 civil actions filed in federal and state courts.
Asbestos Products Manufactured and Sold by Quigley Company
Quigley Company’s original product line of refractory products for high-temporary furnaces expanded over the years to include cements and sealants, insulators, and fireproofing materials. In the years between the late 1930s and the 1970s, these products contained asbestos. These products included:
- Quigley Damit Joint Sealant
- Quigley Fiberock Felt
- Quigley Insulag Refractory Cement
- Quigley Insulbox Refractory Cement
- Quigley Insuline Refractory Cement
- Quigley Panelag Refractory Cementigley Panelbond Refractory Cement
- Quigley Panels
- Quigley Waterproof Cement
People at Risk of Asbestos Exposure from Quigley Company Products
Though Quigley Company’s asbestos-containing products were made to withstand high-heat environments, these environments caused many of the materials to break down over time, posing a significant risk to workers who came into contact with them. The products also led to health problems for employees of Quigley Company who were involved in the manufacture of the products, as well as any demolition or maintenance workers who came into contact with the products for repair purposes or removal. The products also posed and continue to pose the risk of secondary asbestos exposure for family members of workers who might have carried the toxic dust into their homes.
People at risk of exposure to Quigley Company products included:
- Boilermakers
- Brick masons
- Construction workers
- Firefighters
- Furnace workers
- Glass fabrication workers
- Insulators
- Petroleum workers
- Power plant workers
- Steel mill workers
Asbestos Lawsuits Against Quigley Company
When the dangers of asbestos became known and people began to be diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases, Quigley Company was named as a defendant by more than 160,000 plaintiffs citing over 410,000 claims. Many of these claims also named Quigley’s sole shareholder, Pfizer, Inc., pointing to Pfizer’s logo having appeared on many of Quigley’s asbestos-contaminated products’ packaging. The suits naming Pfizer pointed to precedent stating that “one who puts out as his own product a chattel manufactured by another is subject to the same liability as though he were its manufacturer.”[3]
In the documents supporting its bankruptcy filing Quigley Company submitted estimates that the outstanding claims against it were valued at $1.3 billion based on previous jury verdicts. It also anticipated that the company was facing hundreds of thousands of future claims as more people exposed to its products were diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases.
As a result of numerous objections to coordination between Pfizer and Quigley Company, the reorganization plan went through several iterations before being approved in June 2013.[4]
The final Quigley reorganization plan created an asbestos bankruptcy trust called the Quigley Company, Inc., Trust. It discharged at least $5.6 billion of current and future asbestos liability and provided Pfizer with an injunction barring further Quigley-related asbestos claims. Pfizer contributed a total of $964 million to implement the reorganization plan after having already paid $1.25 billion to previous claimants.
If You Were Exposed to Quigley Company’s Asbestos Products
The Quigley Company, Inc.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.
