In a class-action lawsuit filed by former workers and bereaved families in Kanagawa Prefecture and elsewhere seeking damages from a building material manufacturer for inhaling asbestos at a construction site and suffering lung disease, one of the six defendants apologized and paid a settlement fee, and a settlement was reached with some plaintiffs.
According to the plaintiffs' lawyers, this is the second case in Japan in which a settlement has been reached with a former worker and others against the government and a building material manufacturer, and the first in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
In a class-action lawsuit filed against health hazards caused by asbestos at construction sites, the Supreme Court issued a ruling in May recognizing the liability of the government and some building material manufacturers for compensation, and settlements are underway with the government in various places, but disputes with manufacturers continue.
According to the plaintiffs' defense team, a class-action lawsuit filed by former workers in Kanagawa Prefecture was settled with four plaintiffs on the 5th after Nozawa, which is headquartered in Kobe City, apologized and paid a settlement fee.
The other 6 are scheduled to be sentenced by the Tokyo High Court on March 19.
This is the second settlement with the manufacturer in Japan, and the first in a lawsuit filed in the Tokyo metropolitan area in Tokyo, Kanagawa and Saitama.
Keiko Morimatsu, one of the plaintiffs who settled and lost her husband to lung cancer, expressed her joy at the press conference, saying, "Thanks to all of you, we have come this far."
Takao Nishimura, head of the Kanagawa Construction Asbestos Litigation Defense Team, said, "This is the first settlement in a case in which a worker who is not a subcontractor of a manufacturer, such as a so-called 'single parent,' is the plaintiff, and we were able to reach a settlement on the main line, which is a big step."
"Nozawa" says it will not comment on individual matters.