萬國法律事務所

The Taipei District Court has issued a judgment ordering the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) to compensate its former employees in the total amount of NTD 560 million in connection with a pollution case. The Court stated that RCA, from its establishment in Taiwan in the 1970s, has been disposing of chemical substances, including some with carcinogenic ingredients, and has polluted the groundwater and the air, and has exposed its former employees to these chemical substances and the contaminated groundwater. Many of RCA’s former employees now suffer from various cancers and some have died due to the effects of the pollution. The Court specifically invoked the doctrine of “piercing the corporate veil” under the Corporation Law to hold RCA’s holding company also liable for compensating RCA’s former employees. However, RCA can still appeal this decision to the High Court, and the former employees are not likely to receive any compensation as RCA has already transferred its assets out of Taiwan.