A Japanese court has ordered the state to pay damages to the surviving family of a former laborer who developed pneumoconiosis after working in a factory that handled asbestos, overturning a lower court ruling that dismissed the claim.
The point of contention in the trial at the Osaka High Court was when the 20-year statute of limitations on a damages claim begins.
The court, which awarded 6 million yen, including late charges as sought by the family, found that the government’s decision in 2019 to change the point of commencement of the statute of limitations was inappropriate.
The government did not make public its 2019 decision to change the starting point to when illnesses from asbestos exposure were recognized, rather than when local labor bureaus acknowledged health damage, as had been the case before.
The deceased laborer in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, was diagnosed with pneumoconiosis in October 1999, and the harm to his health was recognized by authorities in May 2000. He filed a damages claim in May 2020, but the government deemed him ineligible for state compensation under a 2019 revision to the statute of limitations.
In the trial, the state argued that the plaintiff’s claim is invalid given an earlier decision by another high court which ruled that, in calculating compensation, damages should be considered to begin accruing when pneumoconiosis symptoms were recognized.
Presiding Judge Motoko Miki said the point of commencement of the statute of limitations is “when the public administration acknowledges health problems” because pneumoconiosis symptoms vary from person to person.
The court said in the ruling that health problems caused by pneumoconiosis and lung cancer occur differently, and that “the state’s claims do not recognize the characteristics of pneumoconiosis.”
The central government has been settling with people who worked at asbestos factories after the Supreme Court recognized the state’s responsibilities for the first time in 2014.
Asbestos had been widely used in building construction materials because of its fiber strength and heat resistance before it was found that exposure to the naturally occurring minerals could cause serious diseases.
A law to provide financial support to people suffering from asbestos-linked diseases took effect in Japan in 2006.
© KYODO
© Japan Today
