We take no responsibility for the accuracy of the translation France issued a verdict on 3 June ordering Saint-Gobain to compensate 130 employees of its specialized glass manufacturing and processing factory in Thourotte in the department of Oise the company must pay compensation of 20,000 euro to each worker for "psychological harm" resulting from their exposure to asbestos in previous years the council of labour judges ruled that the current and former employees were "substantially exposed to the inhalation of asbestos fibres" under conditions "subsequent to a breach of the contractual obligation of safety provoked by their employer "and that they suffered “harm” that "should be repaired" Workers were represented in court by lawyer Elisabeth Leroux the employees have been exposed to asbestos they are now undergoing increased medical monitoring which provokes anxiety It's a big satisfaction to obtain compensation for this harm." The court verdict in favour of the workers sets a new precedent since the decision by the French Supreme Court dated to 5 April of extension of damage coverage to all workers in contact with asbestos in France French workers exposed to asbestos can claim for damage caused by anxiety related to the consequences of their asbestos exposure regardless of where they worked if they can prove they were exposed to and suffer from ‘anxiety damage’ the Supreme Court has restricted this mechanism only to employees included in the lists entitling them to pre-retirement due to asbestos exposure namely workers employed in the processing of asbestos or shipbuilding Now since April 2019 the court has opened the ‘anxiety damage’ procedure to all workers who were in contact with asbestos Saint-Gobain has 30 days since the announcement of the verdict to appeal the decision of the court Asbestos has been banned in France since 1 January 1997 the French High Council for Public Health estimated that asbestos could still kill between 68,000 and 100,000 people in France between 2009 and 2050 some 2.3 million workers die annually from occupational causes “Estimates of the percentage of occupational cancer that is asbestos-related vary widely Asbestos diseases are generally underestimated due to frequent misdiagnosis and even concealment We believe that the true number could be 150,000 per year or even much higher there are large numbers of deaths from lung diseases other than cancer We expect that Saint-Gobain takes this court decision seriously and supports all of their workers who were exposed to asbestos and will organize proper compensation for them IndustriALL Global Union’s affiliates represent over 50 million workers in 140 countries in the mining We take up the fight for better working conditions and trade union rights around the world © Copyright 2018 - IndustriALL - We care about your personal information and data. Take a look at our Privacy Policy.