Student Xiao Xu has suffered from leg disability since childhood, and his walking posture often invites ridicule from classmates. One day, teacher Shao, whom he has always respected, casually gave him a nickname "little lame" when gathering students, which unexpectedly caused Xiao Xu to suffer from schizophrenia. On the 26th, Suqian Intermediate People's Court reviewed this case in the second instance, ruling to uphold the original judgment of the first instance: the school should compensate a total of 16,417.98 yuan for various expenses and 8,000 yuan for mental solace.
The disaster originated from a careless word: a single "lame", causing a disabled student to suffer from schizophrenia.
The incident happened on an afternoon last early summer. Xiao Xu's junior high school in a certain township of Suqian was jubilant because the good news of the subject knowledge competition was coming, and the school required all students to go downstairs to welcome it.
During the process of the third-grade students gathering downstairs, head teacher Shao was somewhat angry at their slow actions, so he loudly shouted upstairs: "Little lame has come down, why aren't you hurrying up!"
The "little lame" referred to by Shao was Xiao Xu from class (2) of the third grade. Due to his leg disability, Xiao Xu had great difficulty walking, and some ignorant children often called him nicknames such as "Iron Crutch Li" and "cripple" both openly and behind his back. For this reason, Xiao Xu was extremely distressed but dared not speak out, because he was no match for those classmates in a fight. The physical defect led to Xiao Xu's very depressed and introverted personality.
However, Xiao Xu never expected that Teacher Shao, whom he respected very much, would call him that, and even in front of all the classmates of the whole grade! When Shao shouted out this sentence, the students upstairs and downstairs all heard it. After a burst of laughter, some students even ran to Xiao Xu, patted his shoulder, and teasingly called him "little lame."
At this moment, Shao noticed that Xiao Xu's face suddenly turned pale, tears streaming down, and his hands and feet were trembling uncontrollably. He immediately realized his inappropriate words and hurriedly apologized to Xiao Xu. However, it was too late. The next day, the homeroom teacher found that Xiao Xu was mentally distracted, with a blank look, and his answers to questions were disordered. On the third day, Xiao Xu's mental state became even worse. The school then immediately informed Xiao Xu's parents of the situation.
After the parents took Xiao Xu home, they found that he exhibited symptoms such as paranoia and delirium. Huai'an Third People's Hospital gave a diagnosis - "schizotypal psychosis." Three months later, Xiao Xu's condition improved somewhat, and he was discharged to return home. During his hospitalization, Xiao Xu's family paid more than 20,000 yuan in medical expenses.
First-instance Judgment: The school was judged to bear 60% responsibility
Their well-off son suddenly became mentally ill, and Xiao Xu's parents filed a lawsuit against the school where their son attended and the head teacher Shao of the third grade in December last year, demanding that the school and Shao bear medical expenses, nutritional expenses, mental loss fees, etc., as well as subsequent treatment fees and disability compensation.
According to the application of Xiao Xu's family, the court legally entrusted Wuxi Mental Health Center Forensic Appraisal Institute to evaluate the extent of influence of Shao's words on the occurrence of Xiao Xu's illness. The evaluation result believed that the appraised person Xiao Xu is currently in the remission period of schizophrenia, and there should be certain psychological and social factors before the onset of the disease. However, based on existing data, it is impossible to determine the size of the role between psychological and social factors and Shao's improper words in causing Xiao Xu's illness. That is to say, experts also find it difficult to determine how much compensation responsibility Shao should bear.
The presiding judge of the original trial believed that Xiao Xu was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Although according to existing academic data analysis, it is difficult to determine the extent of the cause of Xiao Xu's illness due to Shao's improper words, there indeed exists the fact that Shao's improper words caused a certain degree of mental stimulation to Xiao Xu. According to law, the defendant, a certain primary middle school, should bear the compensation responsibility.
Based on the degree and circumstances of Shao's improper words, regarding the consequences of Xiao Xu's damage, the court determined that it would be appropriate for the school to bear 60% of the responsibility. The court ruled: within ten days after the judgment takes effect, the defendant, a certain primary middle school, should compensate Xiao Xu for medical expenses, appraisal fees, accommodation fees, transportation fees, nursing fees, hospital food allowance fees, nutritional fees totaling 16,417.98 yuan and 8,000 yuan for mental solace.
Upholding the Original Judgment: Schools Should Show More Respect to Disabled Students
A certain primary middle school believed that Shao's improper words were not the main or direct cause of the damage, and there was no causal relationship between Shao's words and Xiao Xu's mental illness, so the school should not bear compensation responsibility. Moreover, Xiao Xu did not leave any disability, and Shao's behavior also belonged to negligence rather than intention. The first-instance judgment of the school compensating 8,000 yuan for mental damage solace was too high. Therefore, in September this year, the school appealed to Suqian Intermediate People's Court, requesting legal revision.
The court in the second instance believed that the school claimed Shao's behavior was not the main or direct cause of Xiao Xu's mental illness, but the school did not provide evidence proving that Xiao Xu already had mental illness before Shao made the improper remarks, and the time between Shao's improper remarks and Xiao Xu's mental illness was short. Therefore, it should be recognized that Shao's improper remarks were the direct factor for Xiao Xu's mental illness, and the school should bear compensation responsibility. In determining the proportion of compensation, considering that Xiao Xu's own physical quality was also one of the reasons for the disease, the first-instance court appropriately determined that the school should bear 60% of the compensation responsibility.
The court believed that Xiao Xu, due to certain physiological defects, should receive full respect and better care from the school. However, Shao, as an employee of the appellant, instead used the student's physiological defect to make improper remarks, causing serious psychological harm to the respondent and leading to mental illness. The first-instance judgment that the school compensated 8,000 yuan for mental damage solace was relatively reasonable. Therefore, the original judgment was upheld.
Correspondent Yi Fan, Reporter Gao Feng