His wife pushes her chair to the front row of the Rennes administrative court. Every time he coughs, she puts her hand on his shoulder, as if to comfort him. As time passes, Gabriel Lebot’s body begins to tremble. A handicap that will never leave this retired gardener again. Aged 76, the one who calls himself “Gaby” suffers from Parkinson’s disease, he who worked for twenty-three years as an agent of green spaces in the city of Redon (Ille-et-Vilaine). During all these years, the gardener used a lot of pesticides, at a time when these chemicals were widely used for weeding. A daily life which had consequences on the health of the municipal agent, who saw his state of health deteriorate.
Retired since 2002, Gabriel Lebot saw the first symptoms appear in 2008. It was not until 2017 that he realized that his illness was probably due to the repeated use of pesticides. Since then, he and his wife have been fighting to have his illness recognized as occupational. A fight they must lead against the city of Redon, his former employer.
The support of the public ministry
On Friday, Gaby was present before the administrative court of Rennes to ask for the cancellation of the decision of refusal of the municipality. “He simply wants his illness to be recognized as occupational. It’s been going on for years, they’re just waiting for recognition. It would be a relief for them, ”explains their lawyer Me Hermine Baron.
Under advisement, the decision will only be rendered in a fortnight. But in his fight, Gabriel Lebot knows that he can already count on the support of the public prosecutor, who declared himself in favor of the recognition of his illness. “For an occupational disease to be recognized as such, it must be directly linked to the exercise of the profession. This direct link, there is in my opinion,” said the public rapporteur, relying on “the many scientific studies” produced on this subject.
“He is also fighting for these products to be banned”
In 2013, Inserm established that the incidence of Parkinson’s disease was “13% higher among farmers than among people affiliated with other health insurance schemes”. A decree had even come to support it for farmers but it is not valid for gardeners.
A recognition of the disease as occupational would offer Gabriel and his wife the possibility of being compensated. But the main thing is elsewhere. “Gaby is fighting for him and his colleagues in green spaces, suffering from diseases linked to pesticides, to be recognized as occupational diseases, like pesticide users in the agricultural world. He is also fighting for these products to be banned”, assures the collective Victime pesticide Ouest which accompanies him in this fight.
Ten days ago, justice ruled in favor of the wife of a farmer from Morbihan who believes that her husband’s death was linked to the use of pesticides during his career.