A French court has ordered steelmaker ArcelorMittal to pay €10,000 (approx. £8,400) each in damages to 58 former employees who were exposed to asbestos.
The Court of Appeal in Metz found against ArcelorMittal for préjudice d’anxiété – a legal concept which refers to the psychological suffering experienced when someone fears they may develop a serious illness due to their prior exposure to a risk, such as asbestos. Usually fatal lung and other cancers, notably mesothelioma, are associated with exposure to asbestos.
The court ruled that préjudice d’anxiété had been suffered by 58 former employees who had been exposed to asbestos at the company’s sites in Gandrange, Florange and Rombas, a lawyer representing the claimants said.
“In the case of 58 of the 120 former employees, the court found that the claims were not time-barred and that they had been exposed to asbestos during their working lives in a way that was significant and likely to lead to the diagnosis of a serious pathology, leading in turn to préjudice d’anxiété,” Romain Bouvet, the claimants’ lawyer said, following the December 2024 ruling.
“The court found that the employer had failed in its duty to provide information. It [the court] took stock of the reality of the exposure to asbestos and the préjudice d’anxiété, and the compensation awarded seems to me to be satisfactory.”
For 62 other cases, however, the Court of Appeal ruled, as the Thionville industrial tribunal had done in December 2022, that the claims were time-barred, having been made too late.
“The court considers that the employees should have taken action before 2017, even though at that time the Court of Cassation did not allow them to be compensated for préjudice d’anxiété,” emphasised Bouvet, indicating that he was considering the possibility of appealing those cases to the Court of Cassation.
According to Bouvet, several former employees developed physical illnesses linked to their exposure to asbestos, in addition to the anxiety they felt. At least two claimants died during the proceedings.
“ArcelorMittal takes note of the decisions of the Metz Court of Appeal,” a company statement said, adding that it “does not comment on court decisions.
