Asbestos: SNCF ordered to compensate 119 former railway workers

SNCF was condemned last week by the Paris Court of Appeal to compensate 119 former railway workers for prejudice of anxiety, after exposure to asbestos in their workplace, AFP learned Tuesday, December 21 from their attorney. The court ordered the SNCF to pay 10,000 euros in damages “in compensation for the prejudice of anxiety” to each of these 119 former employees, “all retirees now”, told AFP Me Xavier Robin, confirming information from the Norman media Le Poulpe and the SUD-Rail union. Asked by AFP, SNCF replied that it would not make “any comment on this subject”.

There are “119 favorable and identical decisions”, in “similar cases”, and “25 unfavorable judgments” for cases which had “not been sufficiently supported with testimonies of relatives or colleagues”, explained the lawyer . These former railway workers “mainly worked in maintenance, in workshops,” he said. This procedure was launched “in 2013 before the industrial tribunal”, he added.

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In 2019, the court made a first decision in favor of another former employee, ordering SNCF to pay him “7,000 euros” in damages, reported Me Robin. The court then “forgot to hear the other cases,” he said. In the case tried in 2019, the railway group had not appealed to the cassation, said the lawyer. At the start of the procedure, there were “162 files”, but since then “some employees have died and others have given up”, according to Dominique Malvaud, of SUD-Rail.

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In one of the 144 judgments handed down on December 16, consulted by AFP, the court noted that the former employee concerned “intervened on materials containing asbestos, by brushing or cutting them”. The prejudice of anxiety is “established” and it is about an “effective anxiety”, underlines the court. Hired in 1980, this former technical agent worked “throughout his career” in an equipment maintenance workshop in Rouen, according to the judgment. “Former colleagues” of work were “reached” or are “for some died of diseases linked to exposure to asbestos”, adds the court. This complainant, who provided “the testimony of his relatives”, is “the subject of regular radiological monitoring in a difficult context, since the link between exposure to asbestos and the development of cancer is apparent to him. known “, notes the court.

Against the SNCF, the court held a “contractual fault”, because the company “does not demonstrate to have made available to its employee suitable protective equipment, or even to have informed him of the dangers involved. he could incur “. However the employer must “ensure the safety and protect the physical and mental health” of its employees, recalls the court. In a press release, the SUD-Rail federation believes that this judgment “does not put an end to the asbestos problem” at the SNCF, where “even today, there are serious breaches of safety obligations”, accuses the union.