On March 12, 2024, the Court of Appeal in ‘s-Hertogenbosch decided that NedTrain cannot be held liable for alleged health damage due to exposure to chromium-6. This decision follows a case brought by a group of 30 former reintegration employees, who demanded compensation for alleged health damage. Previously, the Zeeland-West-Brabant court had ruled that NedTrain would have to pay damages and damages, but the amount would depend on the extent of the damage, which was not yet clear and had to be determined separately.
Background to the Case
Between 2004 and 2010, the 30 people took part in a reintegration project of the municipality of Tilburg under the Work and Social Assistance Act. During this project they carried out restoration work on old train sets. The reintegration workers claim that they were exposed to chromium-6 during that period, which resulted in health damage. The chromium-6 was found in the paint that was sanded off the train cars, with the sanding dust then inhaled or swallowed.
Substantiation of the Claim
It is striking that the employees’ claims were not brought as collective actions, but as individual cases. Nevertheless, employees believe that their cases are suitable for collective assessment. That is why they have explained their claims with general statements and deliberately not with evidence per individual. The court received an anonymized list with a global overview of the work carried out for NedTrain at the time and the health complaints within this group.
The Judgment of the Court
The court rejected the claims. Given the individual approach, each employee should have separately substantiated the period in which he worked at NedTrain, what specific work he performed there and what health complaints he is experiencing. The health complaints for each individual should then have been substantiated with medical documents. Since this did not happen, their claims were rejected.
The Judge’s ruling can be read here.
Read more about the impact of the TSB scheme on victims of occupational diseases here. If you have any questions about your specific situation, please do not hesitate to contact MCJ Advocatuur.