Breast Cancer Teacher Fails With Lawsuit

Breast cancer: Teacher fails with her lawsuit for recognition of an occupational disease

18/01/2011

The teacher suffering from breast cancer failed yesterday with her lawsuit against the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the district of Neuss. The plaintiff wanted to achieve that as her cancer „typical occupational disease“ is recognized. However, studies by experts were unable to determine that the legally prescribed limit values ​​for pollutants were exceeded.

Yesterday, the Administrative Court of Dusseldorf negotiated on the complaint of a 52-year-old vocational school teacher. The official had sued the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the district of Neuss as a school. The teacher called for recognition of her breast cancer disease as an occupational disease (we reported). The woman had been teaching for several decades at the vocational training center Grevenbroich. When the teacher fell ill with breast cancer in 2005, she was responsible for pollutant emissions from the PVC floor of the classrooms as well as ongoing car exhaust fumes from the school's own car repair shop. According to the applicant, a total of 14 teachers have also contracted cancer in recent years. Nine of those affected died as a result of the cancer.

Correlation of pollution and cancer not detectable
The judges at the Düsseldorf Administrative Court did not grant the claim. Recognition as an occupational disease is out of the question under the given evaluations, since a clear connection can not be proven. A report from the University of Dusseldorf had confirmed that a direct and unequivocal context between the cancer and the pollutants in the vocational school is not detectable. In investigations carried out on behalf of the district, it was not possible to measure any exceedances of the pollutant limit values. The verdict, however, is not final yet, as the mother of three can still appeal. (Sb)

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Picture: Peter Kirchhoff