Raybestos-Manhattan / Raymark Industries
Company History
Raybestos-Manhattan, later reorganized as Raymark Industries, was one of the most significant asbestos-containing friction and textile product manufacturers in twentieth-century America. Founded in 1902 and headquartered in Stratford, Connecticut, the company built its commercial identity around asbestos-reinforced brake linings, clutch facings, and industrial textiles — product lines that made asbestos fiber central to nearly every stage of its manufacturing operations for most of the century.
Throughout the mid-1900s, Raybestos-Manhattan supplied friction materials to automotive manufacturers, heavy equipment producers, and industrial facilities across the United States. Its products were standard-issue components on American jobsites, in automotive repair shops, and inside manufacturing plants for decades. The company operated under the Raybestos-Manhattan name for much of its history before restructuring as Raymark Industries. By the time internal documents and litigation began to expose the depth of the company’s knowledge about asbestos hazards, Raymark had already distributed millions of asbestos-containing products into workplaces nationwide.
Raymark Industries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1989, the same year it ceased asbestos use in its product lines. The bankruptcy filing was directly tied to the mounting volume of personal injury claims filed by workers and their families who had developed asbestos-related diseases after exposure to the company’s products. That reorganization ultimately produced the Raymark Industries Asbestos Settlement Trust, which continues to process claims from eligible individuals today.
Raybestos-Manhattan and Raymark Industries are also notable in the history of asbestos litigation for the discovery of internal company memoranda — sometimes referred to in litigation as the “Sumner Simpson papers” — that documented corporate awareness of asbestos health hazards dating to the 1930s and 1940s. These documents became foundational evidence in asbestos personal injury litigation across the country for decades.
Asbestos-Containing Products
Raybestos-Manhattan and Raymark Industries manufactured asbestos-containing products primarily within two categories: brake and friction materials, and asbestos textiles. Asbestos was not incidental to these products — it was a primary functional ingredient, selected for its heat resistance, tensile strength, and durability under high-friction conditions.
Raybestos Brake Linings Raybestos brake linings were produced and distributed for use in passenger vehicles, commercial trucks, and industrial equipment throughout the mid-twentieth century. These linings contained chrysotile asbestos woven or bonded into the friction material. During installation and removal — and especially during brake drum grinding and shoe resurfacing — brake linings released respirable asbestos dust directly into the breathing zone of mechanics and technicians. Raybestos brake linings were widely stocked by automotive parts distributors, dealerships, and fleet maintenance operations across the country.
Duralite Brake Blocks Raybestos-Manhattan produced Duralite brake blocks for use in heavier industrial and rail applications. Like the automotive brake lining line, Duralite blocks incorporated asbestos as a core friction and heat-resistant material. Workers involved in the installation, adjustment, or replacement of these blocks — particularly in facilities with enclosed or poorly ventilated work areas — faced repeated inhalation exposure to asbestos particulate released during routine maintenance tasks.
Asbestos Woven Brake Tape Raybestos-Manhattan manufactured asbestos woven brake tape for use in industrial band brake systems. This product was common in cranes, hoists, presses, and other heavy machinery found in manufacturing plants, shipyards, and construction operations. The tape was composed of woven asbestos fiber, sometimes combined with wire reinforcement. Cutting, trimming, fitting, and replacing brake tape released asbestos fibers in concentrated amounts. Workers who fabricated brake assemblies, maintained production machinery, or worked in proximity to brake tape installation tasks accumulated significant cumulative asbestos exposure.
Across all three product categories, the mechanism of exposure was consistent: asbestos fibers became airborne during the installation, use, wear, and removal of friction materials. In automotive repair settings, this occurred in partially enclosed shop environments where dust could accumulate on surfaces and circulate through ventilation systems. In industrial settings, friction materials were often serviced without respiratory protection throughout the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, and into the 1970s.
Occupational Exposure
The populations most heavily exposed to Raybestos-Manhattan and Raymark friction products include, but are not limited to:
- Automotive mechanics and brake technicians who installed, resurfaced, and replaced Raybestos brake linings and shoes over the course of their careers
- Fleet maintenance workers at trucking companies, transit authorities, and municipal vehicle fleets who serviced commercial brakes on a daily basis
- Industrial maintenance mechanics responsible for servicing band brakes and friction clutches equipped with Raybestos-Manhattan woven brake tape or Duralite blocks
- Assembly line workers at facilities where Raybestos friction materials were incorporated into finished machinery or vehicles
- Shipyard workers operating cranes and hoists fitted with asbestos brake tape in confined marine environments
- Parts room and warehouse employees who handled, cut to size, or distributed Raybestos friction products, generating dust in the process
Because Raybestos products were widely distributed through national parts supply chains, exposure was not limited to a single industry or region. A mechanic working at an independent repair shop in the 1960s, a millwright maintaining industrial presses in the 1970s, or a transit worker servicing city buses throughout the 1950s and 1960s may all have had substantial, repeated contact with Raybestos-Manhattan asbestos-containing products.
Asbestos-related diseases — including mesothelioma, asbestos lung cancer, asbestosis, and pleural disease — typically have latency periods ranging from 20 to 50 years after initial exposure. This means workers exposed to Raybestos products during the peak decades of use may be receiving diagnoses today.
Secondary exposure is also documented in this product category. Family members of automotive mechanics and industrial workers were exposed to asbestos fibers brought home on work clothing, which released fibers into household environments during normal laundering and daily contact.
Trust Fund / Legal Status
Raymark Industries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1989 in direct response to the volume of asbestos personal injury claims being filed against the company. As part of the bankruptcy reorganization process, the Raymark Industries Asbestos Settlement Trust was established to compensate individuals harmed by exposure to Raymark and Raybestos-Manhattan asbestos-containing products.
The Raymark Industries Asbestos Settlement Trust is an active trust that continues to accept and evaluate claims from eligible claimants. Unlike litigation against solvent defendants, filing with the Raymark trust does not require initiating a lawsuit. Claims are evaluated through an administrative process based on documented exposure to Raymark or Raybestos-Manhattan products and a qualifying asbestos-related medical diagnosis.
Diseases typically covered by asbestos trusts of this type include:
- Mesothelioma (all forms)
- Lung cancer with documented asbestos exposure history
- Asbestosis confirmed by imaging or pulmonary function testing
- Other asbestos-related pleural diseases meeting diagnostic criteria
What claimants generally need to document:
- A qualifying medical diagnosis from a licensed physician
- A work history that places the claimant in contact with Raybestos-Manhattan or Raymark Industries products — including product name, job tasks, employer, and approximate dates of exposure
- Supporting documentation such as employment records, union records, co-worker affidavits, or other evidence establishing product contact
Because the trust involves an administrative rather than judicial process, claims can often be resolved more efficiently than traditional litigation. However, trust claims can also be pursued simultaneously with litigation against other solvent asbestos defendants if multiple product exposures are documented — and for mesothelioma and other serious diagnoses, this combined approach is common.
Individuals who were exposed secondarily — as household contacts of workers — may also be eligible to file claims depending on the trust’s current claim criteria and evidentiary standards.
Summary: Your Options if You Were Exposed to Raybestos-Manhattan Products
If you or a family member has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis, or another asbestos-related disease and have a work history involving Raybestos brake linings, Duralite brake blocks, Raybestos-Manhattan woven brake tape, or other Raymark-manufactured friction and textile products, you may be eligible to file a claim with the Raymark Industries Asbestos Settlement Trust.
Filing a trust claim does not require a lawsuit, but consulting with an attorney who handles asbestos personal injury cases is strongly recommended before filing. An experienced attorney can assess the full scope of your exposure history, identify all potentially responsible product manufacturers, and file claims with multiple trusts and defendants simultaneously — maximizing the compensation available to you and your family.
The existence of the Raymark trust means that a viable path to compensation is available regardless of when exposure occurred, provided diagnostic and exposure documentation can be established. Given the long latency period of asbestos-related diseases, many workers exposed to Raybestos products in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s are only now receiving diagnoses that qualify them — or their surviving family members — to pursue claims.