Yale Alumni Push Back Against Asbestos Tycoon Stephan Schmidheiny

Yale University alumni are pushing again to revoke the honorary degree given to Swiss billionaire Stephan Ernst Schmidheiny, whose asbestos-filled factories in Italy were responsible for the deaths of more than 2,000 people. Schmidheiny, 70, was sentenced to 16 years in prison and fined $15 billion in 2012 by an Italian court that found him negligent in protecting employees and nearby residents from deadly asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma. Schmidheiny received his honorary degree from Yale in 1996. In 2014, the university dismissed efforts by the Italy-based Asbestos Victims and Relatives Association and several Yale alumni to revoke the degree. Schmidheiny is the former chief executive officer of Eternit, a corporation specializing in fibre cement products that operated factories in four different Italian towns. The New Haven Register reported a group of 30 Yale alumni sent a letter earlier this month to university President Peter Salovey, asking him to “re-evaluate the honorary degrees” given to Schmidheiny and stand-up comedian and actor Bill Cosby. Bill Cosby Also Cited in Letter to Yale Cosby, 80, has spent the last few years defending himself from multiple charges of sexual assault. He went to trial in Pennsylvania this month on charges of aggravated indecent assault, stemming from 2004. Cosby received his honorary degree from Yale in 2003. More than 20 universities around the country already have rescinded a degree given to Cosby. Schmidheiny will be ...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Source Type: news