Injured from slipping on snow accumulated on shoe soles, the hotpot restaurant must also compensate.

[2] Compiled from: Shandong High Court, People's Court Daily
 
[3] It is said that hotpot and snowy scenery are a perfect match on a heavy snow day, but slipping and getting injured due to snow on the soles of shoes while eating hotpot is not worth it. In such cases, who should bear the responsibility for the accident?

 
 

Case review
One winter day in 2021, Zhen went to Hot Pot Restaurant A for a meal organized by his company. During the meal, his colleague Jia noticed that Zhen had gone out and had not returned. After searching with a server from Hot Pot Restaurant A, Zhen was found fallen in the stairway between the first and second floors of the restaurant. He was then sent to the hospital for treatment.
 
Zhen argued that Hot Pot Restaurant A failed to fulfill its safety obligation and should bear tort liability. Hot Pot Restaurant A contended that a conspicuous “Caution: Slippery Floor” sign was posted at the staircase, demonstrating that it had fulfilled its safety obligation and should not be held liable for compensation to Zhen.
 
The court held that, according to the call recording provided by Zhen, Hot Pot Restaurant A admitted that snow on the road caused customers to track snowmelt into the restaurant on the soles of their shoes, making the floor slippery and causing Zhen to fall and sustain injuries. While opening its doors to customers, Hot Pot Restaurant A should have provided a safe dining environment and ensured the basic personal safety of its patrons. Knowing that snowy weather would make the restaurant floor slippery and highly likely to cause diners to fall, it should have taken effective preventive measures or fulfilled a clear duty to warn, and promptly cleared snowmelt from the floor to keep it dry so as to prevent accidental injury. Since Hot Pot Restaurant A failed to take precautions, causing Zhen to fall in its stairwell while leaving the restaurant after dining, it can be sufficiently established that the restaurant failed to fulfill its duty of safety protection within a reasonable scope and should bear corresponding tort liability. As a person with full civil capacity, Zhen should have ensured her own personal safety while walking, but she failed to exercise sufficient duty of care and was also partly at fault for the occurrence of the damage. Therefore, based on the degree of fault of each party, the court, in its discretion, determined that Hot Pot Restaurant A should bear 20% of the liability.
 
 
Civil Code of the People's Republic of China
Article 1173  
If the injured party is also at fault for the occurrence or escalation of the same damage, the liability of the tortfeasor may be reduced.
 
[4] Article 1198 
 Operators, managers, or organizers of business premises, public places such as hotels, shopping malls, banks, stations, airports, sports venues, and entertainment venues, or mass activities, who fail to fulfill their safety guarantee obligations and cause harm to others, shall bear tort liability. If harm is caused to others by the actions of a third party, the third party shall bear tort liability; if the operator, manager, or organizer fails to fulfill their safety guarantee obligations, they shall bear corresponding supplementary liability. After bearing supplementary liability, the operator, manager, or organizer may seek recourse from the third party.
 
 
[1] The author's perspective
The function of a warning sign is not only to alert others but also represents a responsibility of the operator of a public place. For example, in this case, since the restaurant operator had already considered that customers might slip and fall on snowy days, they could have taken an extra step, such as laying down carpets or absorbent cloths, to further prevent accidents.
 
From another perspective, although the hot pot restaurant operator in this case bore part of the responsibility, the primary responsibility still lies with the customer. This shows that paying close attention to safety in daily life is not only being responsible for oneself but also avoiding subsequent troubles.