Perhaps someday Australia’s James Hardie company will end up in textbooks as an example of poor handling of contingent product liability risks. For now, James Hardie’s investor relations group has a new challenge that follows after multiple other challenges. The company and corporate officers and directors already have been through major problems, including convictions of senior officials for misleading investors about future asbestos payouts (the convictions are on appeal). Then, the company was the subject of a new book: Killler Company.
Now, Australia’s Daily Telegraph reports that a made for TV movie may be created regarding the mesothelioma death of Bernie Banton, and the related "James Hardie asbestos saga." The article is here. It states:
A tribute to Banton
FREMANTLEMEDIA Australia is developing the James Hardie asbestos saga for a new TV drama, expected to be delivered to the ABC.
An ABC spokeswoman last week confirmed the venture, reiterating it was "in development at this stage and is yet to be commissioned".
The story of James Hardie – specifically the manufacturing company’s multimillion-dollar liability payout to former employees as a result of its use of asbestos products – captivated the country the last decade, with stoic campaigner Bernie Banton (who died in 2007) becoming the public face of the David v Goliath battle.
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