«It is up to the company to verify what the risks are for one of its employees who is sent to war zones, in the presence of large quantities of asbestos fibers and radioactive materials, and to implement all the necessary protection measures». After Franco Di Mare’s interview on Che Tempo Che Fa, in which he announced that he had received a diagnosis of mesothelioma, the journalist’s lawyer and long-time correspondent for public television tries to clarify the legal situation of his client. Di Mare had denounced how in Viale Mazzini, once his illness was discovered, everyone had turned their backs on him, refusing to send him his service report with the list of places and duration of his career trips. In a note, the current Rai leaders stated that they were not aware of his health conditions, saying they were ready to help him, while Inail rejected the reconstruction according to which the practice was blocked at its offices: the organization «is not legitimized to ascertain the causal link between the profession carried out by the journalist and the pathology he has contracted nor to issue a certification attesting to this correlation or not”. In the interview with Ansa, however, the lawyer Ezio Bonanni tells another story. «The Inail is responsible for carrying out investigations on exposure to asbestos and I will sue them for the recognition of social security benefits relating to occupational disease and accidents, but it is RAI that must compensate for the damage», he says, «no one has never responded to the various formal and informal reports and the request for a shared solution made to the company”.
The lawyer’s version
The lawyer states that the first communication to Rai on the matter dates back to 13 July 2021 and the last to 19 March 2024. «I also understand that Di Mare’s agent, in a last attempt at an amicable settlement of the matter, wrote to November 2023 to the Rai top management of the emails, but these too were never answered”, added Bonanni. And then the accusations: «We learn, therefore, with surprise, that Rai claims to have activated an Inail procedure, when instead, very differently, it is certain that it was Di Mare who initiated and requested at least the establishment of the social security benefits due by receiving from the Institution the request for the record of service or precisely that document which, although requested several times also via certified e-mail, Rai has never delivered”. The lawyer then wants to provide further clarity: «Having specified this, however, it must be specified that no Inail assessment is needed on the action for compensation for damages, which is based on the conduct of Rai which did not protect the health of Doctor Di Mare, as he was sent to places highly contaminated with asbestos and radiation.” Bonanni then reiterates that the journalist’s interest is not in obtaining compensation, but in affirming a principle: “It’s the lack of response that hurt him.”
The previous
Lawyer Bonanni then reports on a similar case that he followed for the same company: «I also followed another case of mesiothelioma on an employee who fell ill in Viale Mazzini and in that case I received an immediate response. There I understood that something wasn’t right about Di Mare’s case”, is his opinion, “it’s a tumor that almost always has an unfortunate outcome and dragging it out prevents people from getting the right support”. And then he warns the company: «I want to be respectful of Rai, but there was a lot of asbestos in Viale Mazzini too, they weren’t very foresighted. Even the top management is at risk, it’s a disease that doesn’t look good on anyone, low doses are enough. They wasted too much time.”
