Facts
L., born in 1933, worked for the company E. SA from 1968 to 1995 as a foreman and then as a storekeeper, being exposed to asbestos fibers. In 2003, he developed broncho-pulmonary cancer and died the same year. His dependents requested recognition of the occupational nature of the disease, but the Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund (CNA) refused to grant benefits, considering that smoking was the predominant cause of the cancer. The dependents appealed against this decision.Considerations
The Federal Court considers that the exposure to asbestos cannot be excluded outright as the predominant cause of the broncho-pulmonary cancer, even if the deceased was a heavy smoker. Indeed, exposure to asbestos can double the relative risk of developing lung cancer, even in the absence of concomitant asbestosis.
However, the elements of the file do not make it possible to determine with certainty whether the asbestos exposure threshold of 25 "fiber-years", from which…