Whittaker, Clark and Daniels, Inc. is a talc supplier based in South Plainfield, New Jersey. The company has a long history of mining and supplying talc to well-known consumer product companies for use in their cosmetic talc products. The talc that the company sold was contaminated with asbestos and has been linked to numerous cases of ovarian cancer, pleural mesothelioma, peritoneal mesothelioma, and other asbestos-related diseases. After facing thousands of personal injury lawsuits and being ordered to pay millions in compensation to victims, Whittaker, Clark, and Daniels filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023.
Whittaker, Clark and Daniels, Inc. History and Asbestos
Whittaker, Clark and Daniels was first established in 1890 by W.H. Whittaker in New York City. The company supplied talcs, clays, dry colors, and other nonmetallic mineral products to a variety of industries. Samuel H. Clark served as the company’s salesman and shipper and quickly became a partner in the organization. The company was renamed Whittaker Clark, and when Mr. Whittaker died in 1909, Mr. Clark purchased the business. Nine years later he merged with a competitor founded by W.B. Daniels and the company was renamed Whittaker, Clark & Daniels.[1]
By the end of World War I, the company expanded its delivery area and carrier capacity by shifting from horse-drawn trucks to automotive trucks. The company also began custom blending, eventually growing to the point where it moved to larger facilities, added innovative equipment, and began importing and exporting, supplying materials to a wide range of industries including paints and wall coverings, drugs and cosmetics, foods, and building materials.[1]
As America entered World War II, the company had begun purifying titanium dioxide, and once the country was engaged in the war they acquired the pumice Corporation of America to ensure the availability of the essential raw material. This subsidiary was later sold to U.S. Gypsum. In the early 1960s, the company acquired Pioneer Talc of Allamore, Texas.[1]
During its most profitable years, Whittaker, Clark and Daniels operated one of the largest talc and industrial compound supply and distribution businesses in the United States. Most of its assets were sold to various entities under the umbrella of Brenntag North America in 2004. In 2007, following the discovery of the link between talc and asbestos, the company was named in multiple asbestos personal injury lawsuits. In 2023, facing over 1,000 pending cases and having been ordered to pay more than $76 million in judgments and up to $1 million in monthly defense costs, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.[2]
How Did Whittaker, Clark and Daniels, Inc. Use Asbestos?
As a talc supplier, Whittaker, Clark, and Daniels, Inc. mined, refined, and supplied talc products to cosmetic companies rather than manufacturing any products. The company’s role in victims’ asbestos-related diseases came from asbestos contamination of the talc that it sold.
Whittaker, Clark and Daniels sold talc to some of the world’s best-known consumer companies, including:
- Johnson & Johnson
- Revlon
- Clubman
- Jean Nate
- Chanel
- Avon
- Mary Kay
- Shulton, Inc. (maker of Old Spice talcum powder and Desert Flower dusting powder)
- Colgate-Palmolive (maker of Cashmere Bouquet talcum powder)
Who Is at Risk of Exposure to Asbestos from Whittaker, Clark, & Daniels, Inc.?
Whittaker, Clark, & Daniels’ talc was sold for use in talcum powder, which is one of the most popular consumer products. Whether used in makeup, baby powder, foot powder, body powder, or any other use, asbestos fibers that contaminated the company’s talc floated freely in the air when the product was being used and were then inhaled or ingested by the user. This means that anybody who used talcum powder supplied by Whittaker, Clark, and Daniels, or who had a talcum powder containing the company’s talc applied to them when they were infants, is at risk for asbestos-related diseases.
Talcum Powder and Mesothelioma
Talcum powders like Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Powder and scented body powders have long been among the most trusted products in the world. However recent studies have revealed that the product is frequently contaminated with asbestos. This is because talc deposits are frequently located in the same area as asbestos deposits.
In a recently heard mesothelioma trial in which Whittaker, Clark and Daniels was named as a defendant, an expert witness for the victim told the jury that it is nearly impossible to avoid asbestos contamination of talc. In his testimony, materials scientist William Long explained that asbestos veins are found either above or below talc veins. “It’s actually growing in the talc mine itself.” He said that miners either dig through asbestos to reach the talc or use dynamite that ends up mixing the two minerals. “You’re dealing with a microscopic mineral. You cannot avoid it. And they’ve never been successful, in my opinion, in avoiding where the accessory minerals are.”
This inability to separate asbestos from talc has led to countless cases of asbestos-related diseases in people who used the popular consumer product. Asbestos exposure has been linked to malignant mesothelioma, ovarian cancer, asbestos-related lung cancer, and other deadly illnesses.
Talcum Powder and Ovarian Cancer
Asbestos lawsuits are frequently filed by people diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma after years of breathing in asbestos in their workplace. Though many of those exposed to asbestos in talcum powder have been sickened after inhaling the product, many more are seeking justice after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer. This follows years of consumer companies encouraging women to use talcum powder in their underwear as a feminine hygiene product. There are currently over 60,000 mesothelioma and ovarian cancer lawsuits pending against Johnson & Johnson, which used Whittaker, Clark, & Daniels talc in its popular product.
Whittaker, Clark & Daniels Files for Bankruptcy Over Asbestos Liabilities
In March 2023, Whittaker Clark & Daniels was ordered to pay $29.14 million to a woman who said she’d developed mesothelioma after having been exposed to the company’s asbestos-tainted talc in cosmetic products that she used. Following this verdict, the company appointed a receiver to take over its operations, and in April 2023, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[3]
The company cited a “deluge” of lawsuits blaming its talc products for asbestos exposure and cancer. According to its filing, the company’s entire corporate existence since the time it ceased operations in 2004 has been spent resolving legal claims. More than 2,700 individuals had sued the company at that point, and the company claimed that it had been spending $1 million a month on legal defense.[3]
The company has requested that its assets should be equitably distributed among all talc claimants rather than being seized by the receiver. The outcome of its filing has yet to be resolved.[3]
Asbestos Lawsuits Against Whittaker, Clark & Daniels
The bankruptcy filing is still pending, and if it is approved there will be a process through which asbestos victims will be able to file claims directly through an established fund. Before the filing, the company faced thousands of personal injury lawsuits and was ordered to pay millions to victims. Some of the most notable of these claims include:
- A South Carolina jury ordered the company to pay $29.14 million to a 36-year-old woman who said she developed mesothelioma from being exposed to asbestos-contaminated talc supplied by Whittaker, Clark & Daniels to the Mary Kay cosmetics company and Johnson & Johnson.
- The company was ordered to pay a 78-year-old mesothelioma victim $4.8 million in damages after he was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma. The victim was a Vietnam veteran who claimed that he was sickened by asbestos in Whittaker, Clark & Daniels’ talc in Old Spice Talcum Powder.
- A retired schoolteacher diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma agreed to a confidential settlement with the company after testifying that she’d used Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Powder since 1954, Jean Naté powder from 1956 to 1992, Chanel No. 5 powder from 1964 to 2009, and Avon Unforgettable powder from 1964 to the 1980s. All of the companies had purchased talc from Whittaker, Clark & Daniels.
What to Do if You Were Exposed to Asbestos in Talcum Powder
If you have been diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, ovarian cancer, or any other asbestos-related disease after having used talcum powder products, you may be eligible to file a personal injury lawsuit or to file a claim with an asbestos bankruptcy trust. An asbestos lawyer will be able to explain your options for compensation, guide you through identifying the source of your exposure, and help you explore what’s best for you. There are multiple consumer companies and suppliers that may be involved, and the process will be made far easier with the help of a knowledgeable lawyer.
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