“Of course, it’s not fun. I expected something else. We will have to get back to work. Julien Guillard does not hide his disappointment. This former agricultural worker, whom 20 minutes had met last March, sued his three former employers in order to obtain recognition of an “inexcusable fault” and compensation for “moral damage”, seven years after the declaration of a cancer recognized as an occupational disease by CPAM. Nearly two months after the hearing, the social center of the Nantes judicial court delivered its deliberation on Friday: no decision on the merits but a case referred to the opinion of the regional committee for recognition of occupational disease (CRRMP) in order that it can establish “the existence of a direct link between the declared pathology and the professional activity” in the three attacked companies.
“We will therefore have to wait for the opinion of the CRRMP to discuss again the responsibility of the employers, explains Julien Guillard before the court. It’s additional procedural time, it’s tiring, but I remain confident because I have a very complete file. I am determined to continue the fight. It is essential that corporate responsibility be recognized. I do it for myself but above all for all the victims of phytosanitary products. »
“Some victims don’t have time to wait”
Supported in his action by the Phyto-Victimes association, Julien Guillard, now 39 years old, had been exposed to various pesticides, volatile or liquid, as part of his agricultural activity in Sarthe then Bas-Rhin. He had also been exposed to exhaust fumes in his next job as a crane truck driver. The one who lives today in Saint-Herblain, near Nantes, has recovered from his cancer (non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma) but has retained “neurological pain”.
“The time for justice is long, it is difficult for the victims, regrets Phyto-Victimes. Some unfortunately do not have time to wait and die before. But this procedure is important for Julien because the disease has completely changed his life and that of his family. It is also important for the other victims, so that this does not happen again. »