Asbestos: Ministry of Defense sentenced to compensate worker relatives with over 700 thousand euros
The Court of Genoa sentences the Ministry of Defense to pay compensation of over 700 thousand euros to the family members of a former civilian employee of the La Spezia Navy arsenal. The measure was also recognized in favor of a nephew, as requested by the lawyer Elisa Ferrarello of the Frisani law firm in Florence. The judges added the sphere of affections after the Court of La Spezia had already condemned, in June 2022, the Ministry of Defense on the basis of the Iure hereditatis, the compensation for the damage suffered by a victim due to relatives.
The worker, who died as a result of mesothelioma due to exposure to asbestoshad carried out various tasks, in contaminated environments, without any protective equipment, or information on the risk he ran: from 1958 until his retirement in 1994. In 2016, after suffering serious health problems, he was diagnosed with the tumor which would lead to his death shortly after.
Among the elements determining the amount of compensation, for the widow’s part, having been married for 62 years, evidence of the profound impact on her daily life, deriving from the loss of her husband. The children, on the other hand, had looked after their father when the disease began, forced to radically change their lifestyle. The fact that the grandparents had constantly followed a grandson convinced the judge to involve the latter in the compensation as well. Although the Renam (National Register of Mesothelioma) and the Cor (Regional Operations Center) of the Liguria Region had defined occupational exposure to asbestos as “certain” and the Inail of La Spezia had ascertained the causal link between the duties performed and the disease, assigning the widow an annuity, the Ministry of Defense decided not to grant the family members compensation for non-pecuniary damages.
“The judge – comments the lawyer Elisa Ferrarello – acknowledged the evidence we provided, through the texts of La Spezia, of the presence of asbestos and of the negligent omissions by the employer; of the certifications of recognition of asbestos-related disease by the Cor of the local health authority and accepted our request. We will see if the Ministry of Defense will now appeal the sentence or if it will become final”.
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