A woman from China filed a lawsuit against her coworker after he reportedly broke her ribs while hugging her.
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The incident occurred in May 2021, when the woman talked to a co-worker at her workplace in Yueyang City. During their conversation, a male co-worker approached the woman and hugged her too tight to the point where she screamed in pain. She said the man hugged her too hard to the point where she continued to feel chest pain after leaving work.
Although she didn’t seek medical help immediately, the woman rubbed hot oil on her chest and went to bed. A week later, the chest pain intensified, so she went to the hospital for a check-up. According to Oddity Central, the exam revealed she had three broken ribs, resulting in her taking time off from work and spending money on medical bills. The woman said she met up with her male co-worker, and they tried to negotiate a settlement but couldn’t reach an agreement.
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She filed the lawsuit at the Yunxi Court of Yueyanf City, seeking compensation for the financial loss due to the hug and resulting medical expenses. A judge ordered the male co-worker 10,000 yuan ($1,500) for accidentally breaking the woman’s ribs. The court also determined that there was no evidence to prove that she participated in any activities that could’ve caused the broken bones despite discovering the broken ribs five days later.
The court decided after the woman’s other co-workers testified about the incident.
A similar lawsuit occurred last year when a birthday party caused emotional distress.
A man filed a lawsuit against his employer after the company reportedly threw him a birthday party, although he said he didn’t want one due to his anxiety disorder. He sued the company for emotional distress, but his boss claims the situation was de-escalated.
“My employees de-escalated the situation to get the plaintiff out of the building as quickly as possible while removing his access to the building, alerting me and sending out security reminders to ensure he could not access the building, which is exactly what they were supposed to do,”
Additionally, he reportedly apologized for the panic attack he had at the workplace, according to her claims. He was also terminated from the job after receiving an email about the incident.