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51 Italian Case Against Eternit (January 26, 2009)

A preliminary hearing into the Eternit Group's allegedly negligent behavior in exposing Italian citizens to asbestos would begin at the Palace of Justice, Turin on April 6, 2009.1 This is the culmination of years of research and preparation by Prosecutor Raffaele Guariniello and his team who are mounting the largest legal action to be held in Turin. The charges are being brought against the Swiss company's officers – 62-year old Stephen Schmidheiny, a Swiss billionaire and 88-year old Baron Luis Jan Marie Ghislain De Cartier De Marchienne from Belgium – on behalf of 2,619 former Eternit employees2 from factories in Casale Monferrato (Alessandria), Cavagnolo (Turin), Rubiera (Reggio Emilia) and Bagnoli (Naples), and 270 family members or local residents who received para-occupational3 or environmental exposure to Eternit asbestos.4

In order to disseminate news of the court date to the thousands of interested parties, public proclamations will be issued and official notices of the proceedings will be displayed at town halls in Turin, Cavagnalo, Naples, Rubiera and Monferrato. The news will also be featured on internet websites including those run by the Piemonte Region, the city of Turin and the Region of Emilia Romagna.

52 Asbestos Exposure Surveillance (May 15, 2008)

Department of Traumatology, Orthopaedics and Occupational Medicine - University of Turin, Via Zuretti 29 - I-10126 Turin, Italy. mariagrazia.putzu@unito.it

53 Jailing Asbestos Executives (March 20, 2008)

In Italy after several years of investigation, Turin-based Prosecutor Raffaele Guariniello is poised to bring a class action suit against a leading asbestos multinational for its role in 2,900 asbestos-related deaths caused by Eternit's operations in Italy and Switzerland. The trial of the class action is due to commence in Spring/Summer 2008.

54 International Trade Union Conference on Asbestos (March 4, 2008)

Since 2003, CAOVA has been single-handedly fighting for these victims' rights against powerful vested interests including the Schmidheinys, owners of Eternit, and one of the richest families in the country. Recently, the tide has turned with TV documentaries and articles in the national media about the country's asbestos epidemic. Praising the Italian Prosecutor in Turin who is soon to take the case against Schmidheiny to court, she said that trade unions, and representatives of civil society should evince as much support as they can for this process.

55 Swiss Blood Money: Too Little to Stem the Tide (October 19, 2006)

In 2005, an Italian tribunal in Sicily found eight former Eternit executives guilty of “intentional homicide” for health and safety offences which took place in an asbestos-cement factory in Contrada Targia between 1974 and 1986.4 For more than two years, Turin-based prosecutor Raffaele Guariniello has been investigating Eternit's complicity in causing asbestos injuries to other Italian workers; by the end of 2006, his enquiry into 2,000 claims for damages should be completed.

56 Scientific Conference in Italy (March 30, 2005)

From December 5-7, 2005 a conference entitled: Asbestos Monitoring and Analytical Methods will be held in Venice, Italy. This event, organized by the Istituto Superiore per la Prevenzione e Sicurezza sul Lavoro (Rome), Barricalla S.p.A (Turin) and Deconta GmbH (Isselburg, Germany), is taking place within the framework of the EU-LIFE Project.1

57 Professional Bakers Contract Asbestos Disease (February 18, 2002)

Researchers examined 222 cases of MPM which occurred in Rome and Turin, Italy between 1990-1997 and identified individuals who had worked for a minimum of one year as bakers or biscuit and pastry cooks. Eight cases of MPM were found: 1 biscuit cook, 2 artisan bread bakers, 3 pastry cooks and 2 bakers.

58 UK Victory for African Asbestos Victims (July 25, 2000)

Although originating in South Africa, the defendant's asbestos-related business has not been confined to that country. From 1899 the defendant operated a number of factories in England engaged in processing asbestos and manufacturing asbestos products. A factory at Barking was run by the defendant from 1913 until 1962, and then by a wholly-owned subsidiary until the factory was closed in 1968. Another subsidiary, incorporated in Italy, operated a factory in Turin which made asbestos products from 1911 until 1968, with an intermission during the war years.