The Council of State rejected an appeal in cassation by the Ministry of the Armed Forces and confirmed the compensation for “moral damage” linked to the asbestos of seventeen former employees of the national navy. “The State will pay a sum of 3,000 euros under article L.761-1 of the code of administrative justice” to the persons concerned, specifies the decision of the Council of State issued on Friday 13 May.
The case had been examined by the administrative court of Rennes in June 2019, then by the administrative court of appeal of Rennes which had confirmed on the merits, in January 2021, the judgment of first instance. The Ministry of the Armed Forces then seized the Council of State.
These former employees, mostly State seamen who had spent part of their career on board French Navy vessels, had taken legal action for having been, in the course of their duties, exposed to the risks presented by the inhalation of asbestos dust present on these ships.
They were therefore, according to their request, exposed to a high risk of developing a serious pathology likely to cause compensable anxiety damage. Exposure to asbestos, which was banned in 1997, can expose victims to cancer of the pleura, which can appear years later.