Who is responsible for sanitation workers who are frightened and injured by pets?
The court ruled that the pet owner and the sanitation company jointly compensate
Our reporter Liu Xu
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Nowadays, there are more and more families with pets in cities, and it is not uncommon for pets to go out and conflict with outdoor workers.
A sanitation worker who was cleaning a road was frightened and fractured by a pet dog that suddenly rushed out. Who is to blame for this situation?
With the help of legal aid lawyers, the case came to an end recently, and the court ruled that the pet owner and the sanitation company should share responsibility.
Lawyers called for the cleanliness and beauty of a city. It is not enough to rely on sanitation workers. The citizens should also respect the labor of sanitation workers and develop the good habit of sorting garbage and walking dogs and leashing ropes.
55-year-old Li Qin, who lives in Kedong County, Heilongjiang Province, came to Dalian City, Liaoning Province with her husband in early 2019 and worked as a sanitation worker in an environmental sanitation company.
Li Qin is mainly responsible for street hygiene and cleaning. Working hours are from 4 am to 5 pm. The salary is low and hard.
Two years ago, Li Qin was frightened by a dog and fractured her little finger. Who will pay for medical expenses and other related compensation?
Recently, the People's Court of Ganjingzi District of Dalian City, considering that Li Qin had received compensation of 5,500 yuan from the dog owner Sun, ordered a Dalian sanitation company to compensate Li Qin of 3,680 yuan.
Medical expenses are 2,760 yuan, and the minimum fee for lawyers is 5,000 yuan
Most of the sanitation workers in the company where Li Qin works are from rural areas and have passed the retirement age. As there is no social security and no special skills, they can only be sanitation workers.
Li Qin and her husband rented a small house of less than 20 square meters in a remote place in Ganjingzi District of Dalian. Several families shared the same bathroom. In order to save some money, they rode their bicycles to their place every day before dawn. Cleaning zone.
At 13:30 on April 26, 2019, when Li Qin was sweeping the road on Jin'er Street in Ganjingzi District, a black dog suddenly rushed out of the community and rushed towards Li Qin.
At that time, she was frightened, and subconsciously blocked it with the broom in her hand. Unexpectedly, the dog owner Sun Mou was angry and pushed her to protect the dog.
In order to dodge, Li Qin lost her balance and fell to the ground, fractured her left little finger.
After the incident, the local police station conducted an investigation and found that the dog raised by the resident Sun had a dog certificate and an immunity certificate, and was in compliance with relevant dog-raising regulations; Li Qin’s right pinky finger was broken because she dodges the dog and fell down. It has nothing to do with pushing her. Although the dog owner Sun did not leash the dog while walking the dog, after the incident, the dog owner Sun apologized to Li Qin and expressed his willingness to compensate Li Qin for his loss. Considering that Li Qin’s injury was minor, No administrative penalty was imposed on Sun.
Li Qin was not hospitalized, but was treated in the outpatient clinic of Dalian Third People's Hospital for two months and spent 2760 yuan in medical expenses.
Li Qin went to a law firm near his unit to consult. The lawyer who received said that Li Qin’s situation can claim work-related injury treatment from the unit, or he can directly sue the dog owner Sun.
However, Li Qin’s medical expenses, nursing expenses, nutrition expenses and lost work expenses add up to less than 10,000 yuan, and the minimum fee for a lawyer to represent a civil case is 5,000 yuan, so she considers whether to hire a lawyer to represent it.
"We are a foreigner who is not familiar with the place of birth in Dalian. It is not easy to fight a lawsuit. As long as the person is fine, the medical expenses of more than 2,000 yuan and two months of lost work expenses will be fine." Li Qin's husband said.
Public welfare lawyers come to help, first make a claim to the pet owner
Before the Spring Festival of 2020, the Dalian Legal Aid Center organized legal aid lawyers to visit the sanitation company.
With the idea of giving it a try, Li Qin told the staff of the Dalian Legal Aid Center of his experience.
Although Li Qin’s lawsuit was small and the claim amount was not high, the Dalian Legal Aid Center paid great attention to Li Qin’s matter and immediately decided to provide legal aid, appointing the head of the Dalian migrant workers’ rights lawyers team and the Beijing Yingke (Dalian) lawyer Lawyer Wang Jinhai of the firm provided Li Qin with legal aid, and also gave Li Qin an orange wool scarf to keep her warm at work, while also serving as a warning and guaranteeing her own safety.
After obtaining the consent of Li Qin, attorney Wang Jinhai represented Li Qin in suing Sun Mou, the owner of the dog, to the People's Court of Ganjingzi District, Dalian City, claiming that Sun Mou walked the dog without tying the rope, and Li Qin was frightened and fell and was injured. Give compensation.
The court heard the case in public. Sun had no objection to the fact that Li Qin was frightened and fell and injured when he walked the dog without a leash, and apologized to Li Qin in court. Sun also believed that Li Qin was injured at work. , Is a work-related injury, and is willing to give Li Qin a certain amount of compensation in addition to the work-related injury benefits.
On March 8, 2020, under the patient mediation of Liu Lina, the trial judge of the Ganjingzi District People’s Court of Dalian, Li Qin and Sun reached a mediation opinion, and Sun compensated Li Qin 5,500 yuan in court.
Considering that Li Qin was injured at work, Lawyer Wang Jinhai represented Li Qin to the Ganjingzi District Labor, Personnel and Social Security Bureau to apply for work injury certification, but Li Qin was not recognized as a work injury because he was over the retirement age.
After the Spring Festival this year, attorney Wang Jinhai approached Li Qin to discuss. In her case, although she is not recognized as a work injury due to her age, she can sue the unit for the victimization of the labor provider and ask the court to entrust a judicial appraisal to appraise the injury. After-care, nutrition and lost time, and then claim work-related injury treatment.
Injury at work, and then make a claim to the sanitation company
Li Qin agreed with Lawyer Wang Jinhai’s opinion. The Dalian Legal Aid Center again appointed Lawyer Wang Jinhai as Li Qin’s legal aid lawyer and sued an environmental sanitation company to the People’s Court of Ganjingzi District, Dalian. After receiving Li Qin’s lawsuit, the court entrusted Liaoning The Forensic Judicial Appraisal Center of Academy of Sciences conducted an appraisal of Li Qin's injury, and concluded that he missed work for two months after the injury, the nursing period was 15 days, and the nutritional compensation time was 15 days.
After the trial, the People’s Court of Ganjingzi District of Dalian City held that Li Qin was injured by a fall from a dodge dog at work. As an employer, a sanitation company should be liable for compensation. Considering that Li Qin has received compensation of 5,500 yuan from the dog owner, Sun. , An environmental sanitation company should also compensate Li Qin for his reasonable losses.
On September 28 this year, the People's Court of Ganjingzi District, Dalian City sentenced the Environmental Sanitation Company to compensate Li Qin for the loss of 3680 yuan.
All case acceptance fees and appraisal fees shall be borne by the sanitation company.
After receiving the verdict, Li Qin was very moved. “I didn’t expect the government to attach so much importance to our sanitation workers and arranged legal aid lawyers to help me win the lawsuit. Although my compensation amount is not large, I would definitely give up the lawsuit without legal aid. If you don't go to court, you will always feel panicked in your heart."
Lawyer Wang Jinhai called for the cleanliness and beauty of a city. It is not enough to rely on sanitation workers. The citizens must also respect the labor of sanitation workers and develop the good habits of sorting garbage and walking dogs on ropes.
(Li Qin is a pseudonym)