Beijing Man Injured on Way to Coffee Shop Sues Café After Hospitalization

The Unbelievable Lawsuit: Man Falls on His Way to Coffee Shop and Wins Compensation from Property Management

After accidentally falling on his way to a coffee shop, the victim sued the property rights holder, property management company, and his intended coffee shop destination in one go... The reason: they all failed to fulfill their safety assurance obligations! They should bear 80% of the compensation...

(Can the property developer, property management, and coffee shop really be held liable? And *n...)

Event Reconstruction

Mr. Zhang, the victim, had arranged to meet friends at a coffee shop to discuss some matters on a "dark and windy" evening. He followed his phone navigation's instructions and walked there. However, the route to the coffee shop lacked lighting and safety warning signs. While descending stairs, he missed his step and fell, resulting in injuries that required hospitalization for several days. The stairs he missed weren't clearly marked as stairs, nor did he recognize them as such.

Mr. Zhang believed that the property developer, property management company, and coffee shop had failed to fulfill their duty to ensure others' safety in public spaces. Since they bore some responsibility for his missed step, he sued all three parties...

Leaving aside the property management company, neither the property developer nor the coffee shop likely expected such an incident to occur... In court, the property developer, property management company, and coffee shop all expressed disagreement with Mr. Zhang's lawsuit claims!

The property developer stated that the property management of the incident area had been entrusted to the property management company, so Mr. Zhang's demand for compensation from them had no legal basis. The coffee shop argued that the incident occurred in a public area, not within the coffee shop premises, and they were not the managers of the incident area, so Mr. Zhang's demand for their liability had no legal basis.

The property management company claimed they had fulfilled their obligations to conduct security and fire safety inspections in the property management areas under their responsibility. They noted that the stairs where Mr. Zhang fell were part of emergency evacuation routes and safety exits. According to legal regulations, property management companies need to ensure these passages remain unobstructed and cannot occupy, block, or close them. They also mentioned that after the incident, surveillance footage revealed that Mr. Zhang missed his step because he was looking down at his phone and not paying attention. Therefore, Mr. Zhang himself was also at fault, and they disagreed with his lawsuit claims.

The Unexpected Verdict

At this point, you might be thinking: "This was clearly Mr. Zhang not watching where he was going! Who else can be blamed..." However, shockingly enough, he actually won the lawsuit???

After hearing the case, the court determined that as the manager of the incident area, the property management company should bear the obligation to ensure others' safety. Based on the site inspection, there were indeed safety hazards at the entrance of the incident area, and the property management company should have taken necessary safety precautions. However, the property management company had not fully fulfilled its safety assurance obligations, so it should bear tort liability.

However, this couldn't be entirely blamed on the property management company. Mr. Zhang looking down at his phone was the primary cause of the accident, and he himself was also at fault. Therefore, based on factors such as the degree of fault of both parties and the magnitude of causation, the court comprehensively determined that the property management company should bear 40% of the responsibility, while Mr. Zhang should bear 60% of the responsibility himself.

During Mr. Zhang's hospitalization from this fall, the total expenses including hospital meal subsidies, nursing fees, nutrition expenses, lost wages, transportation costs, and medical fees amounted to 186,000 yuan. In the end, the property management company needed to pay Mr. Zhang over 26,000 yuan for medical expenses, hospital meal subsidies, nutrition expenses, nursing fees, lost wages, and transportation costs...

Unbelievable! Just unbelievable...

Image source: Internet

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