Another Rai employee died of mesothelioma, his daughter’s complaint: “Asbestos also used in sets”

Pasquale Russo died in 2020 after working for thirty years in the Naples office

NAPLES – Lucia Russo is the daughter of Pasquale, an employee of the Rai office in Naples who worked in public television from 1977 until 2007, the date of his retirement, for programs such as “Avanspettacolo” , “Domenica In”, “Sotto le stelle”, “Furore”, “Blu Notte”, “Un posto al Sole” and many others. Pasquale Russo died on August 31, 2020. He was 76 years old and had been affected by pleural mesothelioma. The woman decided to reveal her father’s story after the death of Mariusz Marian Sodkiewicz and the Franco Di Mare case to “report a risk that must be faced and resolved”, explain the National Asbestos Observatory.

“When we asked my father how it was possible that he had asbestos in his lungs – Lucia’s story – he surprised us by saying that in Rai, in addition to having been present in part of the structure, which was later reclaimed, for some years it was often used by builders, until it was completely disposed of, for example, that asbestos sheets were used in the construction of stage fireplaces, or to cut escape routes”.< /strong> In May 2020 he began to show the first symptoms of tiredness, stomach discomfort and some coughs. In July he was diagnosed with mesothelioma. After a few months, “aware of the fact that he didn’t have much time left to live”, he called his three children and his wife to him and “thanked us for everything we had done. He asked to be accompanied with pain therapy”.< br>

In the complaint filed on December 23, 2023 by Russo’s widow, Assunta Atardo, we read that during the period in which Pasquale served as “chief construction worker, in the carpentry shop and partly in the television studios for assembly and disassembly and related to the creation of scenographic constructions for studio and outdoor productions” asbestos “was also used after the entry into force of law 257/92”. Among the requests highlighted in the act also that of < strong>“identify those responsible for the relative’s exposure to asbestos, enter them in the register of suspects and initiate criminal proceedings” and activate an “epidemiologically based check of the impact of the use of asbestos in Rai (in all its offices) among employees and collaborators”.

“Dad – underlines Lucia Russo – during the course of his duties had not received any prior information on the dangers of asbestos or on any related health problems”.
Only February 18th 2022, INAIL has officially confirmed the professional origin of the man’s disease, recalls Ona. “It is more appropriate and dutiful than ever that, in addition to compensating the victims without further delay, Rai – asks the lawyer Ezio Bonanni, president of the National Asbestos Observatory and lawyer for the victim’s family – considers subjecting all employees to health surveillance who may have been exposed to asbestos and complete the remediation”.