Court awards more than NT$700 million to victims of RCA pollution

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/10/27
By: Liu Shih-i, Wang Yang-yu and Kuan-lin Liu 

Taipei, Oct. 27 (CNA) The Taiwan High Court awarded on Friday more than NT$700 million (US$23.14 million) to a total of 486 former RCA Corp. workers and their family members who were exposed to toxins at a RCA factory located in Taoyuan County from 1970-1992.

This is the second ruling in a case that dates back to 2004 when over 500 individuals filed a joint lawsuit against the former U.S-based home appliance maker RCA for the pollution its Taoyuan-factory caused to the surrounding environment, which the court determined subsequently led to cases of cancer and other illnesses among former workers and local residents.

This new ruling, which increased the compensation by roughly NT$200 million, came about after a RCA employee association representing the victims appealed the original decision of NT$500 million in compensation, which fell far short of the NT$5.5 billion the victims had sought in their original motion.    [FULL  STORY]