A local court ruled Tuesday in favor of the bereaved family of a woman who died from cancer caused by exposure to asbestos at her workplace, in a landmark ruling that could spark similar lawsuits.
An environmental group in Daegu claims a total of 46 people have died of asbestos-related diseases for the last seven years, although it is hard to verify the linkage between the material and the deaths due to a long incubation period.
The worker, identified only by her surname Won, died in 2006 at 46, two years after she was diagnosed as having asbestos-related cancer. She worked at an asbestos-producing firm in the city of Busan for two years from 1976.
"It is admitted that the accused firm was negligent in providing workers with protection suits, masks, and gloves although it, as a company specializing in asbestos, was well aware of the dangers of the material," said Kim Se-jong, a judge at the Daegu District Court.
The case was the first asbestos-related lawsuit in South Korea.
In addition, the company did not provide proper ventilation at the workplace or educate its workers sufficiently on safety, the judge said, ordering the firm to pay 130 million won ($140,000) to the bereaved family.
But the judge held the victim partly responsible for her sickness.