Lawsuits by two former IBM employees went before a jury in late October, alleging that both were routinely exposed to carcinogenic chemicals at the company's hard-drive facility in San José, California. The suit claims that health records show that IBM physicians knew about the higher-than-average incidence of cancer among employees. “The case is the first of more than 200 similar worker lawsuits against IBM in various states to reach the trial stage” (New York Times, 13 October 2003).

During the production of many electronic components such as hard drives and semiconductors, workers in 'clean rooms' are continually exposed to a broad array of carcinogenic chemicals. “According to court files, hundreds of IBM workers developed relatively rare forms of cancer in their 30s, 40s and 50s” (ABC News, 25 September 2003).

Central to the plaintiffs' case is a database kept by IBM known as the 'Corporate Mortality File' — a record of the cause of death for more than 30,000 full-time employees over a 30-year period. A prominent epidemiologist has analysed the records and found that IBM employees have a shorter life expectancy than the general population, and that a cancer trend could have been detected as early as the 1970s. “IBM calls the analysis 'junk science', and has said that the Corporate Mortality File is an incomplete and error-prone employee benefits record”. (Reuters, 5 October 2003).

“The case could have ramifications throughout the high-technology sector, where many of the same chemicals were in widespread use in the 1970s and 1980s” (New York Times, 13 October 2003).