Book Review: Killer Company: James Hardie Exposed

Matt Peacock’s new book, Killer Company: James Hardie Exposed raises difficult ethical issues for lawyers and is a bloody good read. 

Peacock first reported the dangers of asbestos in an award-winning radio series in 1977 and the book is based on his interviews and research following the story over 30 years. 

The book is well-documented with quotes and references supporting Peacock’s argument that the James Hardie company knew of the dangers of asbestos from the mid-1960s but, to maintain its commercial profits, deliberately failed to protect its workers or warn consumers of its asbestos products of the health risks. Worse, the company actively engaged in a public relations and political lobbying campaign to downplay the health risks and avoid regulation of asbestos products. 

As a new-comer to the asbestos story, pictures of factory workers covered in asbestos dust and children holding a sack race in hessian bags which transported blue asbestos were particularly chilling. Another disquietening realization from reading the book is the past widespread use of asbestos-containing products in unusual places that can remain a threat to health today — such as carpet underlays and as a substitute for cement in driveways.

While the book is not about legal ethics, it raises difficult ethical issues for lawyers. 

Peacock tells of how, in the late 1990s, the James Hardie board of directors switched to using Allen Allen & Hemsley solicitors (Allens) to act in asbestos litigation. One of the main plaintiff lawyers, Turner Freeman, “installed a new fax machine to handle the extra paperwork” because: 

The lesson from the book on how to respond to such tactics — where litigation becomes a war of attrition and resources — is by hard work and tenacity. 

The book illustrates — although it does not make the point — that lawyers who obstruct, delay and simply weigh down opponents with paperwork and procedural points do a great disservice to the courts, the law and the public. 

The book is more than a historical account and it retains relevance for lawyers due both to the ongoing asbestos litigation and the lessons that can be learned for plaintiffs facing large, well-resourced opponents. 

A parallel can be seen between the decades of litigation against James Hardie and the litigation that is slowly building against large greenhouse gas emitters in Australia and overseas³, particularly coal miners and coal-fired power generators. As Tim Flannery famously said, “coal is the new asbestos.” 

Like James Hardie in the 1960s, the coal industry is currently striving to minimise its legal liability and is engaging in a public relations campaign to sell its product as essential for society and largely benign. It seems likely that there will be ongoing litigation in Australia and overseas seeking to attribute liability for the damage burning coal causes through climate change and ocean acidification. Cracks are slowly emerging in the legal barriers to such litigation.⁴

Given this context, the book will be of interest to many lawyers as a gripping account of the trail of deceit and spin that characterised James Hardie’s handling of its asbestos liabilities. 

Chris McGrath

Footnotes