A teacher without virtue, a girl's nightmare
[4] Compiled from: Red Star News
Case review
In May 2016, after an unpleasant incident at school, Xiaomei (a pseudonym), a second-year junior high school student in Shenyang, was taken home by her mother, Ms. Guan. Not long after, Ms. Guan discovered that Xiaomei had developed depression and had made multiple suicide attempts. To treat Xiaomei's illness, the Shenyang Private Experimental School, where she was enrolled, transferred a total of 300,000 yuan to Ms. Guan's account on three separate occasions and asked Ms. Guan to sign IOUs.
Ms. Guan stated that Xiaomei became depressed because she was humiliated by a school teacher named Ji Mounan, and therefore the school should be held liable for compensation. “When the school gave me the money, they said that the finance department needed an IOU for accounting purposes, so I wrote the IOU as requested, but this money was not a loan.”
In June 2017, the school sued Ms. Guan in court with the IOU, demanding repayment of the loan. The local court held that a genuine private lending legal relationship existed between the parties and ruled that Ms. Guan should repay the loan of 300,000 yuan.
In March of this year, Ms. Guan took the school to court.
In June of this year, the People's Court of Shenbei New District, Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, formally accepted the case of "Xiaomei v. Shenyang Private Experimental School Educational Institution Liability Dispute."
[1] Court Opinion
The People's Court of Shenbei New District, Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, held after trial that the school failed to fulfill its duties of education and management. At the time of the incident, the plaintiff, as a minor student, could not directly prove that their rights and interests were harmed. However, the audio recordings, video recordings, witness testimonies, and medical records provided met the high standard of evidentiary probability, establishing that the plaintiff's mental illness was caused to some extent by inappropriate remarks from teachers and classmates. Additionally, the court found that the teacher's inappropriate remarks were one of the causes of her (Xiaomei's) illness, with a causal relationship between the two, and the tortfeasor should bear certain civil liability. Since the teacher's actions were performed in the course of teaching duties, the consequences should be borne by the school externally as civil liability.
Ultimately, the court ruled in accordance with relevant provisions that Shenyang Private Experimental School compensate Xiaomei for medical expenses, nursing expenses, transportation expenses, accommodation expenses, and missed schooling expenses, totaling 377,291.3 yuan. The court dismissed Ms. Guan's request for the school to publicly apologize in a mainstream media outlet in Shenyang.
Civil Code of the People's Republic of China
Article 1200
If a person with limited capacity for civil conduct suffers personal injury during study or life at a school or other educational institution, and the school or other educational institution fails to fulfill its duties of education and management, it shall bear tort liability.
[1] The author's perspective
A comparison between the aforementioned Article 1,200 and Article 1,199 reveals that the burden of proof requirements for persons with no capacity for civil conduct and persons with limited capacity for civil conduct differ in such cases. If the person has no capacity for civil conduct, the educational institution is subject to presumed fault liability, and the burden of proof is reversed—that is, the kindergarten, school, or other educational institution shall bear liability unless it can prove that it has fulfilled its duties of education and management. If the person has limited capacity for civil conduct, the educational institution is subject to fault liability, and the principle of “he who asserts must prove” applies, meaning that the person with limited capacity for civil conduct and their guardian must prove that the educational institution failed to fulfill its duties of education and management; otherwise, the educational institution bears no liability.
In this case, although the school is a private institution, it still bears the responsibility of education and management. The teacher's inappropriate words and actions not only significantly impact students but also reflect the school's quality and standards. Disappointingly, the child developed depression at such a young age, yet the school still failed to recognize the severity of the issue, did not have the courage to admit its mistakes, and even used an IOU as a pretext to sue the parents. Fortunately, the court ultimately delivered a fair and just result. This case not only tells us that schools, as greenhouses nurturing flowers, should focus on children's physical and mental health in addition to academic education, and must never act arbitrarily. Parents should also constantly monitor their children's emotional changes, contact the school immediately if something seems wrong, and never tolerate any infringement once discovered.
