Accidental injury while providing services,
Outside the emergency room of the hospital,
The migrant worker is alone,
In a time of crisis when money is urgently needed for surgery,
The employer offers to pay the surgery fee on behalf of the employer,
But no more fees will be paid later,
Indemnity agreements signed in a hurry,
Can it be reversed?
Let's take a look at the case!
Typical cases
On the afternoon of January 17, 2022, Zhao Wei accidentally fell and injured himself while working on the scaffolding at the workplace.
After being hospitalized, Zhao Wei signed an agreement with Li Yang because he urgently needed surgery, and the two parties agreed: "Li Yang is responsible for paying Zhao Wei's surgery fees, and the rest of the expenses are not responsible, and Li Yang will not bear any responsibility for Zhao Wei's fall injury." Later, it was determined that Zhao Wei had a Grade 9 disability, and Li Yang did not pay any other expenses except for the operation fee. As a result, Zhao Wei filed a lawsuit with the people's court, requesting that the agreement be revoked and that the defendant Li Yang pay more than 30 yuan in disability compensation, nursing expenses, lost work expenses and other expenses. Defendant Li Yang claimed that he did not coerce Zhao Wei to sign the agreement, that he had already paid the fees in accordance with the agreement, and that he should not pay other fees.
The court held that the focus of the dispute in the case was: can the compensation agreement signed in a hurry after the injury be reversed and revoked?
According to Article 151 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, "where one party takes advantage of the other party's distress or lack of judgment ability, resulting in the establishment of a civil juristic act that is obviously unfair, the injured party has the right to request the people's court or arbitration institution to revoke it." "The provider of the service has the right to dispose of his right to claim compensation, provided that such disposition is based on his full knowledge of the content of his right.
According to the facts ascertained by the court, the agreement in this case was signed before Zhao Wei underwent surgery after he was hospitalized, and Zhao Wei did not fully understand the possible injuries and consequences. The agreement stipulated that there was a significant gap between the expenses borne by the defendant Li Yang and the expenses claimed by Zhao Wei in this case, which reduced the obligations that the defendant Li Yang should bear, and the agreement led to the asymmetry of the rights and obligations of the two parties, causing Zhao Wei to suffer a significant loss of interests, which was obviously unfair and should be revoked. Therefore, the court supported Zhao Wei's claim.
In the end, the court ruled that the defendant should bear 60% of the liability for Zhao Wei's reasonable economic losses, i.e., more than 130,000 yuan, and Zhao Wei should bear 40% of the liability for the reasonable economic losses of Zhao Wei, taking into account the degree of causal relationship between the parties' actions and the results of the damages, and the ability to bear responsibility. After the first-instance judgment, none of the original defendants appealed, and the case has now taken effect.
Sha anchor said
Although the act of signing a contract is a free agreement of the parties' autonomy, if the conclusion of the contract violates the statutory circumstances, the parties have the right to request the court to revoke it. In judicial practice, whether it constitutes obvious unfairness can generally be analyzed from two aspects: subjective and objective elements. The first is the subjective aspect, whether one party has the intention to take advantage of its advantages or take advantage of the other party's rashness and inexperience to enter into a obviously unfair contract with the other party. The second is whether the content of the contract clearly violates the principles of fairness and equivalent compensation, and whether the interests of the two parties are obviously unbalanced.
In this case, the plaintiff was lying alone in a hospital bed, without relatives or friends by his side, in a state of dire need of money to pay for the operation, he lacked sufficient judgment ability to judge the consequences of his injury, and he was not clear about his possible claim for compensation, and the plaintiff was in a temporary and urgent predicament of urgent need for treatment and money. The defendant, as the contractor, took advantage of its professional experience and economic conditions to demand that the plaintiff in a state of distress sign an agreement, and objectively the content of the agreement caused the rights and obligations of the two parties to be obviously unequal, the plaintiff suffered a large loss of interests, and the interests of the two parties were significantly unbalanced. Therefore, the agreement signed in this case was obviously unfair, and the court revoked the agreement.
Civil entities engaging in civil activities shall follow the principles of fairness and good faith, reasonably determine the rights and obligations of all parties, and must not violate legal provisions. The perpetrator's attempt to exempt himself from responsibility and increase the burden on the other party through a paper agreement is not only immoral but also contrary to the basic principles of the law, and will not be protected by the law.
Reporter: Chang Junqing, Wang Sha
Editor: Ao Lin
Review: Yue Nan
Executive Producer: Hou Aiwen
Statement: Original manuscript of Pentium Media