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Catalan court upholds total disability for Barcelona metro worker over asbestos exposure

TMB will appeal to the Supreme Court following the TSJC ruling on Rubio’s workplace asbestosis

Rafael Rubio, exmecánico jubilado del metro de Barcelona al que dos sentencias reconoce una incapacidad permanente total por exposición a amianto en el puesto de trabajo.
Una estación del metro de Barcelona, en una imagen de archivo

Overview

  • The TSJC affirmed on May 15 that Rafael Rubio, who worked at Vilapicina workshops from 1978 to 2020, qualifies for permanent total disability benefits due to asbestosis and pulmonary emphysema.
  • Judges dismissed TMB’s claims that Rubio’s diagnosis was unproven and highlighted medical reports documenting pleural plaques and moderate respiratory impairment since 2013.
  • sports MetrMetropolitans de Barcelona has been registered in Spain’s asbestos‐risk registry since 1987, a 1998 study detected asbestos at Vilapicina, and a removal plan was launched in 2018.
  • TMB intends to bring the case before Spain’s Supreme Court while Rubio pursues a separate €180,000 damages lawsuit against the operator.
  • A Barcelona court previously linked the 2022 death of another metro employee to asbestos inhalation, underscoring lingering safety hazards in the network’s workshops.