Chinese Man Trapped While Holding Meeting in Shopping Mall Nursing Room... "Developed Respiratory Illness" Lawsuit

Chinese Man Enters Nursing Room for Emergency Meeting During Meal
Gets Trapped Due to Broken Lock After Meeting
Claims "Developed Respiratory Disease"... Court Orders Compensation of 70,000 KRW

A man conducting an online meeting was trapped inside a nursing room at a shopping mall in China. On the 30th of last month, the Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported, "In June last year, graduate student A, who was working as an intern at a company in Beijing, received a call from his company while having a meal at a shopping mall," sharing the story.

A hurriedly searched for a space to hold an online meeting and entered the infant nursing room inside the shopping mall. After finishing the meeting and trying to leave the nursing room, he found that the lock was broken and he could not open the door. A asked the mall staff for help, but they were unable to open the door, and eventually firefighters were dispatched to break down the door and rescue him.

However, A claimed that he experienced breathing difficulties while trapped in the nursing room and was diagnosed with a respiratory disease at the hospital. He then filed a lawsuit against the shopping mall seeking compensation of 13,000 yuan (approximately 2.6 million KRW) for medical expenses, lost wages, transportation costs, mental distress, and other damages.

In response, the shopping mall stated, "The nursing room is a place for breastfeeding," and argued that A was responsible. They also claimed, "The nursing room is equipped with air conditioning and an air purification system, so it is not a sealed space." It was reported that A had a history of congenital heart disease.

Regarding this case, the court ruled that "A disturbed public order by occupying the nursing room for personal use." However, the court also judged that his health condition was caused by the incident. Therefore, the court ordered the shopping mall to compensate A for medical expenses of 359.27 yuan (approximately 70,000 KRW) and transportation costs of 45 yuan (approximately 9,000 KRW), while dismissing the other claims.

On local social networking services (SNS), criticism arose regarding A's behavior, calling it selfish. Comments included, "It's shameless to demand compensation after occupying the nursing room," "Why choose the nursing room instead of a quiet place like a cafe or lounge?" and "The court's judgment is reasonable."