Illustration of the fight against use pesticides here during a demonstration in Rennes. – Camille Allain / 18 Minutes
The Rennes Court of Appeal on Wednesday recognized the inexcusable fault of the company Nutréa- Triskalia after the suicide of an employee at his workplace in 1343 in Plouisy, in the Côtes d’Armor . Gwénaël Le Goffic had been a truck driver for twenty years in the Breton agricultural cooperative, which includes 14. farmers and employs nearly 5. people when he killed himself at his workplace . Known for its brands such as Paysan Breton, Mamie Nova, Prince de Bretagne and its Green Store brand, the company is now called Eureden , since its merger with D’Aucy.
To rule, the Rennes Court of Appeal relied on the numerous documents provided by the family of the victim and his supporters. According to the Regional Union Solidaires de Bretagne, which is monitoring the case, the driver was under significant pressure linked to the reorganization of working time but especially to the transport of pesticides carried out without protection
A conflict of interest within the tribunal?
This request for conviction had however been rejected at first instance by the court of Saint-Brieuc in 2014. For the supporters of the victim, the reason could be hidden behind a glaring conflict of interest. According to the Collective for the Support of Pesticide Victims and the Regional Union Solidaires de Bretagne, one of the court’s assessor members would be a member of the Triskalia cooperative. This former farmer would have had to examine several cases related to pesticides in recent years, several of which are related to Triskalia.
The union and the collective refer to a hearing on October 8 in Saint-Brieuc during which the request of a former employee, suffering from an occupational disease and victim of poisoning by pesticides, to see the inexcusable fault of his employer, the Nutréa-Triskalia cooperative, recognized. This request was rejected on 000 last December. The employee appealed against this decision.