NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson Chief Executive Alex Gorsky told a jury Monday that he did not read all the internal company documents related to potential asbestos contamination in Johnson’s Baby Powder.
It was the CEO’s first appearance in a jury trial over allegations that the company’s Baby Powder causes cancer.
Asked by a plaintiffs’ lawyer whether he read all documents linked to a Dec. 14, 2018, Reuters report, Gorsky replied, “I did not read all the documents but I would rely on the experts in these fields.”
Gorsky was subpoenaed by plaintiffs’ lawyers as a witness in a trial playing out in a courtroom near J&J headquarters. The plaintiffs, three men and one woman, all have mesothelioma, a rare and incurable cancer that they allege was caused by their exposure to asbestos in Baby Powder in infancy during their diapering.
During an earlier liability phase of the trial, a jury agreed with plaintiffs that the company’s powders had caused their cancers and awarded $37.2 million in compensatory damages. Now plaintiffs’ lawyers are seeking to persuade a new jury that the company’s behavior was so reckless that it should award additional punitive damages.
J&J fought the subpoena, arguing that its chief executive had no first-hand knowledge about the safety of its powders and that the case involves corporate conduct that occurred long before he joined the company in 2012. Compelling his testimony “would serve no purpose other than to harass Mr. Gorsky and divert him from his executive responsibilities,” J&J said in a
