Snapshot

In April 2004, over 500 workers from the “RCA Victims Aid Organisation” and their families filed a lawsuit against RCA (Radio Corporation of America), Technicolor, Technicolor USA (originally known as Thomson Consumer Electronics), Thomson Consumer Electronics (Bermuda) and General Electric (GE) in the Taiwanese district court in Taipei over exposure to toxic solvents.

美国无线电公司(RCA)诉讼案（有关台湾工人受有毒化学品侵害）

Factual background

The factory was owned by RCA and produced components for televisions between 1967 and 1992.  The other defendants were shareholders of RCA while the factory was in operation.  

Legal argument

Represented by lawyers from the Taiwanese Legal Aid Foundation, the plaintiffs claimed that they had been exposed to cancerous chemicals while working for RCA and that RCA had not provided a safe working environment, adequate safety training nor professionally assessed the risks of using such chemicals. The chemicals had also contaminated groundwater used by the plaintiffs.  

They alleged that this caused 61 of them to die of cancer and 243 to suffer from this disease.  Under pressure from the government, GE and Thomson investigated and attempted to clean the groundwater between 1996 and 1998 but claimed that the contamination was irreversible.

RCA argued that the action should be dismissed because the plaintiffs had exceeded the limitation period, and that their allegations were incorrect as to the chemicals used and the time period involved. Technicolor USA (a former shareholder of RCA), said that they had no direct connection with the employees.  GE (another former shareholder of RCA) supported RCA’s claims, adding that they had not caused damage to the plaintiffs’ health.  Technicolor and Thomson (the main shareholder of RCA) did not provide any statement.

Legal proceedings

In 2004, RCA workers filed a collective civil lawsuit in Taiwan, which was later taken over by the newly established Legal Aid Foundation (LAF), forming a legal team to represent them. In 2005, the Taipei District Court dismissed the case on procedural grounds, but the Supreme Court reversed this decision and ordered a retrial.

The Taipei District Court accepted the case in 2006, with the plaintiff representing over 500 workers in a lawsuit against RCA Taiwan and its foreign parent companies: Technicolor (formerly Thomson SA and Technicolor SA) of France, Technicolor USA (formerly Thomson Consumer Electronics Inc. and Thomson Inc.), Thomson Consumer Electronics (Bermuda) Ltd. of Bermuda, and General Electric Company of the United States. After years of procedural delays, substantive hearings began in November 2009 under the official title “Taipei District Court, 95 Zhong-Su-Geng-I No. 4 Civil Lawsuit.”

On 17 April 2015, after five years of extensive hearings, the Taipei District Court ruled in favour of the RCA workers, ordering RCA, Technicolor, and Thomson to pay NT$564 million to 445 victims. Individual compensation amounts ranged from NT$4,470,000 to NT$300,000. Both sides appealed to the High Court following the District Court's decision.

On 27 October 2017, the Taiwan High Court awarded NT$718 million to over 500 plaintiffs, setting a historic precedent. The ruling was even more favourable to the plaintiffs, both in the increased compensation, the legal principles used to reach the verdict, and the inclusion of additional plaintiffs.

In December 2017, the Taoyuan County Original RCA Employees Caring Association filed a second lawsuit on behalf of 1,142  former RCA workers, not part of the first lawsuit.

On 27 December 2019, the Taipei District Court ruled in favour of the second group of plaintiffs, awarding NT$23.3 million in lump-sum compensation to 1,107 victims.

On 16 August 2018, the Supreme Court of Taiwan confirmed the appellate judgment of the Taiwan High Court from 27 October 2017 regarding the causal link between toxic exposure and serious conditions such as cancer. The court upheld liability for all parent companies and ruled in favour of 262 plaintiffs (Groups A: deceased workers, and B: seriously ill workers), while sending the cases of 246 plaintiffs (Group C: exposed but not diagnosed workers) back to the Taiwan High Court for retrial.

On 6 March 2020, the High Court retrial of the first group ruled that only 24 plaintiffs (who had since developed cancer or serious illness) were eligible for compensation. It dismissed the claims of all others 222, arguing that the increased risk of cancer was not a legally compensable harm.

On 11 March 2022, the Supreme Court overturned the High Court ruling from 6 March 2020, confirming compensation eligibility for Group C plaintiffs and setting new legal precedents for toxic exposure cases. The Supreme Court also upheld the award of NT$54.7 million to 24 other plaintiffs in a related class-action lawsuit.

On 6 August 2022, the Taiwan High Court reopened the retrial for the first group under case number 111 Chong-Lao-Shang-Geng-Er No. 4. In January 2025, the Taiwan High Court ruled that RCA must pay NT$170 million to affected former employees and their family members. A total of 222 plaintiffs were involved in the judgment.

-Second-Instance Judgment by Taiwan High Court Rules in Favor of RCA Taiwan Victims, New Bloom Magazine, 7 February 2025

- “Ex-RCA employees win Taiwan workplace lawsuit”, Taiwan Today, 20 Apr 2015
- “RCA parent firms to pay NT$560 mil.”, Stephanie Chao, China Post, 18 Apr 2015
- “RCA pollution trial begins in Taipei”, Want China Times, 12 Dec 2014
- “RCA, ex-workers to appeal ruling”, Lii Wen, Taipei Times, 27 May 2015
- “The Cancer Factory: RCA Workers Battle for Justice”, Teng Sue-feng and Phil Newell, Taiwan Panorama, Oct 2007