Facts
The case concerns a man named X., who worked at Eternit AG during the school holidays in 1972 and 1973 as a youth and was exposed to asbestos dust. In 2007, X. died of a malignant mesothelioma (pleural cancer) attributed to the previous asbestos exposure. His relatives, the complainants A., B., C. and D., applied for benefits under the Victim Assistance Act, which was rejected by the Department of Economics and Interior of the Canton of Glarus and later also by the Administrative Court of the Canton of Glarus.
The Federal Court had to decide whether the responsible parties at Eternit AG had violated their duty of care and thus committed negligent homicide, which would make the relatives victims within the meaning of the Victim Assistance Act.
Considerations
The Federal Court concluded that the responsible parties at Eternit AG had violated their duty of care by allowing the then-young X. to perform work in which he was exposed to asbestos dust. According to the applicable occupational safety regulations, they should not have assigned such work to X., as there was a significant risk of illness.
The Federal Court stated that the responsible parties at Eternit AG must have been aware of the health risks of asbestos at the time. Therefore, X.'s death was foreseeable for them. Moreover, the death could…