Seoul Administrative Court Upholds Denial of Workers Comp For Samsung Occupational Disease Victim

The Seoul administrative court on Aug. 23 dismissed a request by a 40-year-old former Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd employee to reverse the denial of workers compensation by Korea Workers Compensation and Welfare Service (KCOMWEL).

In 1994 Yi Yoon-seong began work at the Kihung plant of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and in 2005, increasingly overtaken by muscle cramps and weakness, he resigned.  In March 2009, Yi was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease.”

Don’t Know Much About Chemical Risks

During 15 years of employment as periodic maintenance worker at Samsung, Yi daily used tens of different chemicals to clean and maintain muffle furnaces—a key stage in the process of chemical vapor deposition.

In late 2010, helped by SHARPS, a sick Yi listed the following chemicals in slurring words: 1) octafluoropropane; 2) ethylene Glycol; 3) helium; 4) nitrogen oxide; 5) nitrogen trifluoride; 6) ozone; 7) silicon…