A former worker at the Sacelit plant in Volla, where asbestos-cement products were manufactured for decades, developed pleural disease linked to his work but was left without the relevant indemnity because the injury rating was set too low. The Tribunal of Nola has now recognized a higher degree of harm and ordered payment.
The worker was employed at the plant from 1976 to 1997. Years later, he developed pleural lesions, including plaques and calcifications, attributed to occupational asbestos exposure.
INAIL recognized the condition as an occupational disease, but assigned a damage percentage too low to qualify for the relevant indemnity. Following medico-legal assessments, the Tribunal of Nola recognized a higher degree of injury and ordered INAIL to pay the indemnity.
The ruling also recognized the worker's entitlement to benefits from the Asbestos Victims Fund.
The reports do not identify the worker by name. They also do not state the exact percentage assigned by INAIL, the revised percentage recognized by the court, or the amount of the indemnity in this case. The full judgment and any possible appeal are not described in the available reporting.
Why the percentage was decisive
The central issue in this case was not whether the illness was work-related. That link had already been recognized.
The dispute concerned the assessed level of harm. Because the initial rating fell below the level required for the indemnity, no payment followed. The court's reassessment moved the case across that threshold, unlocking both the INAIL indemnity and access to the Asbestos Victims Fund.
A wider pattern linked to the Sacelit plant in Volla
The Volla case is one of several proceedings connected to asbestos exposure at Sacelit.
In a separate Sacelit-related proceeding in Nola, the court recognized another worker's asbestos exposure and ordered a contributory-benefit adjustment reported at 150,000 euros.
Another separate case concerned a Volla worker employed at Sacelit from 1974 to 1992, who died in 2017 from pleural mesothelioma. In that case, Nuova Sacelit and Italcementi were ordered to pay more than 1 million euros in compensation to the worker's family.
Together, the cases point to prolonged exposure affecting workers employed at the Volla site during the 1970s through the 1990s, with courts addressing the consequences through different routes: injury ratings and indemnities, pension-related adjustments, and damages for families after fatal illness.
