A woman in Jiangsu died after staying in a hotel after drinking, and her family's claim to the hotel was rejected. What happened afterwards?

Tort liability compensation for damages is a way of safeguarding rights with high social utilization rate. In recent years, there are more and more litigation cases about tort liability claims, which is a manifestation of people's progress in understanding the rule of law. However, not every claim will be supported by the court. Before making a claim, it is still necessary to evaluate the damage itself and divide the obligations, otherwise even if the lawsuit is brought to the court, it will eventually be rejected.

On September 7th, 2020, it has been more than two years since Wenwen (a pseudonym), a girl from Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, died of "laughing gas" in a hotel. Her parents took the hotel to court and claimed 500,000 yuan. However, the lawsuit lasted for two years from the first trial to the second trial, and the main reason for the entanglement was whether the hotel should be responsible for Wen Wen's death.

Wenwen was originally a beautiful young girl. On June 20 18, Wen Wen, who just turned 18 years old, got together with friends for drinking and having fun. However, after eating and drinking enough, Wen Wen was still unsatisfied, so she stayed in a hotel in Xuzhou and continued to have fun. However, one morning after staying in the hotel, the hotel cleaner found Wenwen lying quietly on the floor of the room, once without breathing.

Someone died in the hotel, which is a very serious matter. The hotel did not hesitate to call the police. After forensic examination, the real cause of Wenwen's death was inhalation of nitrous oxide gas, which is also commonly known as "laughing gas". According to further verification, Wen Wen did not cancel his stay in the hotel. This room was cancelled by a man before. The second day after Wen Wen checked in, the man left, and later Wen Wen renewed the fee in the name of the man.

Because of the criminal case, the police did not give up the investigation. After careful investigation, Zhang and others who provided "laughing gas" were all arrested and brought to justice. Because Zhang and others' behavior once constituted meritorious service, they were finally sentenced to corresponding punishment and compensated their parents for their local losses. Wenwen's hotel was also fined 5,000 yuan for management problems and ordered to suspend business for 7 days.

Don't think that this is the end of things. Wenwen's parents were heartbroken at the loss of their beloved daughter. Although Zhang and others were sentenced and compensated, some parents felt that the compensation was not in place, and the loss of their daughter's death was far more than that. Wenwen's parents think that the hotel should be responsible for half of her daughter's death. After calculation, the total loss is 6,543,800 yuan, and the hotel should compensate 500,000 yuan.

The losses claimed by Wen Wen's parents include death compensation, funeral expenses, and physical comfort. Such a request was of course rejected by the hotel, and eventually the two sides went to court. Wen Wen's parents believe that the failure of her daughter to stop canceling and verifying her identity when she checked in proves that there are management defects in the hotel, allowing her daughter to enter the hotel and objectively providing her with a place to take "laughing gas" is one of the main reasons for her death.

However, the hotel argues that there is no legal causal relationship between Wen Wen's death caused by taking too much "laughing gas" and whether the hotel staff can stop canceling the identity check-in. Wen Wen did not directly cause her death because of the hotel staff, and the hotel did not directly kill her. Wen Wen's parents' request is groundless and should be rejected. The hotel should not be liable for compensation.

After hearing the case, the court of first instance held that Wen Wen stayed in the hotel as someone else, and the hotel did not stop canceling his identity and failed to fulfill his security obligations, so he should bear supplementary obligations for Wen Wen's death. In the end, the court of first instance divided the fault level of the hotel, ruled that the hotel should bear 20% of the obligations, and ruled that the hotel should compensate Wenwen's parents for all the losses of 200,000 yuan.

Such a judgment was hard to convince the hotel, so it appealed to Xuzhou Intermediate People's Court. The hotel thinks Wenwen is just a tourist, not a guest, and there is no law to force tourists to go through the cancellation procedures. The hotel doesn't need to ask her to verify her identity and cancel her stay.

The hotel also believes that it is impossible to judge the harmfulness of not stopping the cancellation of tourists in this case. The hotel is not the direct perpetrator, and the cancellation of its identity cannot prevent Wang from dying of poisoning. The hotel did not stop the cancellation of the identity of the guests who stayed or visited, and it cannot be taken for granted that they did not fulfill their security obligations.

In the second trial, Wen Wen's parents believed that it was the legal obligation of the hotel to verify the identity of the renter, otherwise they should bear corresponding administrative, civil and even criminal obligations. Wenwen was not a tourist at that time, which was a normal accommodation. Even tourists should stop the strict cancellation. Therefore, the hotel should still bear the obligation of compensation.

Both sides have their own reasons, and who is right or wrong still needs to be judged by law. First, let's look at Wenwen's cause of death. Wenwen died of laughing gas. Although "laughing gas" is not a drug controlled by law, it is illegal for the state to control goods, buy and sell and smoke "laughing gas".

Wenwen once reached 18 years old. By legal definition, she is an adult. She has full capacity and is the first obligor for her own safety. She should have the ability to distinguish right from wrong, and should also understand the serious consequences that inhaling "laughing gas" will bring to me. However, Wenwen still buys "nitrous oxide" through abnormal channels and smokes it knowingly, and the damage result should be borne by himself.

In this case, it is an indisputable fact that he died because of smoking "laughing gas", and Zhang and others who provided him with "laughing gas" were punished by law and stopped paying compensation for the damage caused by his death. On the other hand, although there are damaging facts and illegal acts in the hotel's behavior, the unregistered behavior of the hotel violates the regulations on public security punishment, and the hotel has also borne corresponding penalties.

The debate about whether Wen Wen is a tourist or a guest has little to do with this case. Even if the hotel cancels Wenwen's identity information, it can't stop her from buying "laughing gas" and smoking it. The Tort Liability Law stipulates the security obligations of natural persons, legal persons or other organizations engaged in business activities such as accommodation, but it does not include the death caused by carrying articles controlled by the state.

According to the judgment made by Xuzhou Intermediate People's Court in early September 2020, the court held that there was no legal causal relationship between Wen Wen's death and the hotel's failure to cancel his identity information, so the hotel's failure to cancel Wen Wen's identity did not constitute infringement and did not need to bear the corresponding compensation obligation. Therefore, the first-instance judgment was revoked, and Wen Wen's parents' first-instance lawsuit request was rejected.