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Karlsruhe / Bochum (dpa) - After the fatal fall of her demented husband from the window of a nursing home, a widow can hope that her claim for pain and suffering will be negotiated again.
The presiding judge of the third civil senate at the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in Karlsruhe and the lawyer of the defendant Bochum home operator said on Thursday that the higher regional court (OLG) Hamm as the lower instance had not heard an expert.
The judge said at the beginning of the hearing whether the OLG had taken into account all the factors involved in risk prognosis.
The Senate wanted to announce a verdict in the early afternoon (around 1 p.m.).
In the summer of 2014, the plaintiff's demented husband fell out of a roof window on the third floor and was so badly injured that he died months later of the consequences.
The widow as co-heir would like the home operator to pay at least 50,000 euros in compensation for pain and suffering plus interest.
Both the regional court in Bochum and the OLG Hamm, as previous instances, had denied her the money.
The woman is now proceeding against this in Karlsruhe (Az. III ZR 168/19).
The widow's lawyer said there were no protections in place.
According to the information, there was a 40 centimeter high radiator in front of the window at a height of 1.20 meters and a window sill at a height of 70 centimeters.
A device with which the window can only be opened a crack would have been sufficient, according to the representative of the woman.
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The other side argued that because the man was mobile, all the windows in the home should have been equipped in this way.
But then other residents of the facility would no longer have been able to ventilate.
Unlike the plaintiff, the home operator saw no danger that the man could climb out of the window.
The presiding judge made it clear that in such cases the dangers could only be assessed for the individual case.
Announcement by the BGH