Johnson & Johnson created a plan last year to limit the financial bleeding from billions of dollars in jury awards to plaintiffs who alleged the company’s Baby Powder and other talc products caused deadly cancers.
The health care and consumer-goods giant assigned more than 30 staffers to "Project Plato.” In a memo on the project in July, a company lawyer warned the team: Tell no one, not even your spouse.
"It is critical that any activities related to Project Plato, including the mere fact the project exists, be kept in strict confidence,” Chris Andrew, a J&J lawyer, wrote in an internal memo reviewed by Reuters.