The coincidence of the calendar gave a particular resonance to the words of the Breton labor inspectorate. While the state services presented their 2022 report and mentioned the abnormally high number of work accidents in Brittany, a slaughterhouse in Côtes-d’Armor was charged a few tens of kilometers away. As if to confirm what many ignore. In the region, work accidents number 35,000 to 40,000 per year. Thirty people lose their lives at work each year in Brittany.
This day in October 2021, the parents of Tom Le Duault lost their son in an accident at the LDC slaughterhouse in Lanfains, in the Côtes-d’Armor. The 18-year-old died on his first day of work, crushed under hundreds of crates of meat stored in a fridge. A year and a half after the tragedy, his mother, an employee of the slaughterhouse for twenty years, still works there part-time.
Before the Saint-Brieuc criminal court which was judging the case, she asked for “a sentence commensurate with their sentence”, as France Bleu reports. “Me, I trusted LDC and it was the biggest mistake of my life! They didn’t take care of my son. He was alone in the fridge. Do you think an 18 year old should be alone? No ! “, she declared in front of the judges, reports the local radio. LDC is the French leader in poultry. It is known under its brands Le Gaulois, Loué, Marie and Maître Coq.
Heavy fine and prison for the director
During the trial, the issues of work safety, training and operation of the forklift were extensively discussed. The prosecutor considered that the slaughterhouse and its director had their share of responsibility in the death of the young temporary worker. He requested a fifteen-month suspended prison sentence against the director and a fine of 375,000 euros. Under advisement, the decision will be rendered on May 25.