“It’s adding suffering to suffering. » Laure Marivain, whose daughter Emmy died at age 11 of leukemia after being exposed in utero to pesticides when she was a florist, is “deeply shocked and overwhelmed” by the decision just handed down by the Rennes Court of Appeal. In a judgment communicated on Wednesday, December 4, the court rejected Emmy's parents' request for compensation for the damage suffered by their daughter.
“The court can only note that no compensation is provided for the deceased person, the compensation only aims to compensate for the impact of the child's physical damage on his future life,” explains the magistrates in their statements that The World was able to consult. François Lafforgue, the lawyer for the Marivain family, denounces “an absurd and scandalous situation” : “We compensate children who are victims of their parents’ occupational exposure when they are alive, but not when they are dead. »
After a long procedure, the Marivain family managed to have Emmy's death recognized by the Pesticide Victims Compensation Fund (FIVP). In July 2023, the FIVP admitted “the causal link between the pathology [d’Emmy] and its exposure to pesticides during the prenatal period ». A first for a deceased victim.
“The fight will continue”
A first, too, for a flower professional. The compensation proposed by the FIVP, on the other hand, only takes into account the damage suffered by “the rights holders”i.e. a lump sum of 25,000 euros for each of the child's parents. It is this compensation that Laure Marivain and her husband challenged before the Rennes Court of Appeal. “It’s as if Emmy and her family hadn’t suffered all these years”comments François Lafforgue.
Also read the column | Article reserved for our subscribers “The compensation for pesticide victims is far too modest to call into question the economy of the sector”
Read later
Between her diagnosis of B acute lymphoblastic leukemia in January 2015 and her death on March 12, 2022, Emmy experienced complete remission and three relapses. She spent four hundred and sixty-eight days in the pediatric oncology department of the Nantes University Hospital, carrying out medical examinations and surgical interventions. Lower back bone pain, sciatica, headaches, vomiting, exhausting chemotherapy sessions, hair loss, weight loss, social isolation, fear of dying… The little girl's ordeal is transcribed in the medical reports. That of Emmy's family is not recorded anywhere.
You have 46.3% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
