The Council of State rejected the appeal to the Cassassion of the Ministry of the Armed Forces. The State will have to pay a sum of 3,000 euros to the complainants, mostly state sailors.
Le Monde with AFP
The Council of State rejected an appeal in cassation of the Ministry of the Armed Forces and confirmed compensation for “moral damage” linked to asbestos of seventeen former employees of the French 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 rendered on Friday May 13.
The case had been examined by the Rennes administrative court in June 2019, then by the Rennes Administrative Court of Appeal which had confirmed on the fund 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 sailors who have spent part of their careers on board the French Navy, had seized justice for having been in their functions exposed to the risks presented by the inhalation of dust asbestos present on these ships.
They were therefore, according to their request, exposed to a high risk of developing a serious pathology likely to generate compensable anxiety. Exposure to asbestos, prohibited in 1997, can expose victims to plevian cancer likely to declare themselves for years later.