萬國法律事務所

In June of 2012, Ms. Chen suffered substantial injury as a result of a piece of cartilage getting lodged in her throat while eating Neritic Squid in a famous restaurant in Taipei. After her throat became red and swollen, she brought a civil lawsuit, stating a cause of action in tort for negligence against the restaurant, and demanded NT$ 600,000 for monetary damages, and also filed a criminal complaint against the cook.

However, the prosecutor declared the cook nolle prosequi in the criminal procedure, and the District Court found that the restaurant had not been negligent and decided against Ms. Chen.

Ms. Chen appealed the decision to the High Court, which held that Chinese cuisine frequently contains bones and shells, a warning from restaurant should be conspicuous and placed somewhere (such as on the menu) so that consumers can easily see the same. In this case, as the restaurant failed to do so, the Court held that the restaurant had breached its duty in this regard, and that as a result of the breach, Ms. Chen suffered injury, and that the breach of duty was the proximate cause of Ms. Chen's injury.

The High Court also held that while eating Chinese food containing bones or shells, consumers should always be careful and eating slowly. If a consumer fails to do so, he might breach his duty, also. In this case, as Ms. Chen did not take her time to chew carefully and swallow her food slowly, the Court found that Ms. Chen had breached her duty and was negligent.

Therefore, the High Court found that the restaurant had been negligent, but, that Ms. Chen had negligently contributed in causing her own injury. Thus, the Court reduced the amount of compensation, and adwarded Ms. Chen NT$ 15,000 in monetary damages, and this judgement is final and binding.