A court ruled that the family of a McDonald’s part-time worker who died while carrying 1 ton of potatoes in Taiwan should be compensated NT$4.72 million (approximately 193 million won).
On the 11th (local time), Taiwanese media outlets such as Free Time reported that Mr. Li (23 years old at the time), an employee who moved 1.1 tons of French fries in 40 minutes at a McDonald’s in the southern Kaohsiung region, died of a cerebral hemorrhage. He said he was suing for damages. The Southern District Court of Kaohsiung ruled in favor of some of the plaintiffs in a damages lawsuit filed by the bereaved family against McDonald’s.
At around 10 am on May 29, 2021, Mr. Lee passed out while moving a total of 1114 kg, including 60 boxes of frozen French fries (approximately 980 kg) and 14 boxes of hash browns (approximately 134 kg), to the freezer on the 5th floor according to the manager’s instructions. A colleague who found Lee helped him down to the first floor and took a taxi to the hospital, but he was later pronounced dead.
Later, Li’s parents found out that their son had died from a cerebral hemorrhage and septic shock through an appraisal at Kaohsiung Medical University. On the day he fell, Mr. Li was exposed to ultra-low temperatures for 29 minutes and 14 seconds more than 48 times without cold protection, and he lost his life as a result.
According to the Labor Standards Act, McDonald’s paid a total of NT$480,000 (approximately 19 million won) to the bereaved family for death compensation and funeral expenses.
However, Mr. Li’s parents claimed that McDonald’s neglected management responsibilities, such as calling a taxi instead of an ambulance at the time of the accident.
The court ruled in favor of Li’s family in the lawsuit. Pointing out that McDonald’s management did not supervise the wearing of winter clothing by employees when working in the freezer, it was ruled that Li’s bereaved family should be compensated NTD 6.9 million (approximately 283 million won). According to the survey, Mr. Li’s monthly salary for working six hours on holidays in a McDonald’s kitchen was only NT$10,967 (approximately 449,000 won).
However, the court said, “Mr. Lee also did not comply with the obligation to wear winter clothes,” and “It is reasonable to compensate McDonald’s damages by limiting the damages to 70% and paying NT$4.83 million (approximately 198 million won).”
Regarding the court’s ruling, McDonald’s said, “We are very sorry that this has happened,” and said, “We are reviewing this ruling.”
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