# Fraudulent Misrepresentations Regarding Specific "Specialty" Chemicals and Products Designed and Manufactured Explicitly for the Microelectronics Industry

101. **Shell EPON resins used in IBM Disk Drive Coating:** At all relevant times, Shell Oil Company represented to IBM and its employees, including plaintiffs, in Material Safety Data Sheets and other product literature that its EPON resins were high quality and could be used safely by workers in the electronics industry. These misrepresentations were made repeatedly even though Shell had never adequately tested these resins as mixtures to ascertain their carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, or endocrine disruption ability. These representations were also made even though the entire line of Shell EPON resins are made from epichlorohydrin and bisphenol A. Epichlorohydrin has been suspected to be a carcinogen since the mid 1970s. The endocrine-disrupting ability of bisphenol A was reported since 1934. Notwithstanding such knowledge, these suppliers conveyed grossly misleading and inadequate information to IBM regarding these dangers, knowing and intending that IBM would repeat, convey or in some fashion communicate these misleading statements to its employees, including Plaintiffs and Plaintiffs' decedent, who detrimentally relied upon these misrepresentations and omissions made to IBM and repeated, communicated and/or in some fashion authoritatively conveyed to them.

102. **1350 J Photo resist, SJR 1440 Photo resist, and 1375 J Photo resist:** At all times relevant, IBM's photo resist chemical suppliers, including without limitation, defendants IBM, Shipley Company, Inc., and Hoechst Celanese Corp., knew that so-called "permissible exposure levels" and "threshold limit values" for given chemicals were not thresholds that were protective against the risk of cancer or developmental harm from exposure. At all times relevant, IBM's photo resist chemical suppliers knew that the chemicals and mixtures sold and used at the IBM San Jose facility had not been tested for carcinogenicity, immunotoxicity, mutagenicity, endocrine-disruptive capacity or any other chronic adverse health effect potential yet have represented to IBM and its employees, including plaintiffs, in their MSDSs and other product literature that their products are safe and free of significant health hazards. Notwithstanding such knowledge, these suppliers conveyed grossly misleading and inadequate information to IBM regarding these dangers, knowing and intending that IBM would repeat, convey or in some fashion communicate these misleading statements to its employees, including Plaintiffs and Plaintiffs' decedent, who detrimentally relied upon these misrepresentations and omissions.

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COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES, PERSONAL INJURY AND WRONGFUL DEATH

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