Former state workers of the Monnaie de Paris employed in Pessac, are in court for their exposure to asbestos.

- Photo: Sebastien Ortola - SEBASTIEN

ORTOLA

  • This Thursday, the Monnaie de Pari was ordered to pay 10,000 euros per person to 66 employees of the Pessac site (Gironde) in compensation for the damage of anxiety linked to prolonged exposure to asbestos.

  • The judgment puts an end to long years of proceedings, started at the industrial tribunal.

This is a victory for workers exposed to the risk of asbestos on the site of the Monnaie de Paris in Pessac.

This Thursday, the Monnaie de Paris was ordered to pay 10,000 euros per person to 66 employees of the Pessac site (Gironde) in compensation for the damage caused by anxiety linked to prolonged exposure to asbestos.

The Bordeaux referral court of appeal also ordered the Monnaie de Paris to pay 500 euros to each employee for procedural costs.

In its judgment, the court considers that the Monnaie de Paris "has committed several breaches of its security obligation", in particular in terms of employee information, ventilation systems, substitute products made available, at various times.

The risk of a recognized cancer

The court "accepted our argument according to which the employees, exposed for more than 10 years, all have a risk of developing cancer from asbestos", indicated Me Roxane Vuez, of the office of Me Béatrice Ledermann, lawyers of the employees.

“The important thing was to win,” said Alain Bernon, president of SOS Monnaie, an association of employees.

The association "considers that it is a good decision compared to the decisions taken in France in recent months which tend to minimize this damage which is however real", according to a press release.

A long legal fight

Employees each initially claimed 100,000 euros in compensation, then 50,000 euros, for their entire career, with an average duration of 30 to 40 years.

The prejudice of anxiety allows compensation of people who are not sick but who worry that they can become sick at any time.

The judgment puts an end to long years of proceedings, started at the industrial tribunal.

Rejected in 2018 by the Bordeaux Court of Appeal on the grounds that the site was not officially classified as “asbestos”, the employees then obtained a new trial.

The Court of Cassation had indeed quashed the judgment, recognizing this prejudice of anxiety even for the employees of a company not appearing on a list giving entitlement to “asbestos early retirement”.

The Pessac site has been manufacturing parts since 1973.

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