A company demanded payment from a subcontractor for settlement money for a deceased worker... Court "dismissed"

The court said, “Plaintiffs who subcontracted must also bear joint tort liability.”

A facility management company demanded that a subcontractor reimburse the settlement money paid to the surviving family of a deceased worker, but the court dismissed the claim.

On the 14th of last month, the Suwon District Court ruled that the plaintiff lost in a lawsuit filed by facilities management company A against Mr. B, the owner of a subcontractor.

The incident dates back to 2023. The deceased worker, Mr. C, was a worker who had been hired by Mr. B after subcontracting the cleaning service from company A, and he collapsed and died while cleaning a subway that had finished operating on June 28, 2023.

At that time, Company A paid approximately 100 million won in funeral expenses and consolation money to the bereaved family, and later filed a lawsuit against Mr. B for the deposit. This is because although Mr. C was not a member of Company A, he paid the settlement amount on behalf of Mr. B at the request of Mr. B, but Mr. B is not keeping his promise to repay.

In relation to this, Mr. B refuted that Mr. C and himself were only workers of Company A, and that the accident occurred while performing work instructed by Company A. He also claimed that he had never discussed the settlement amount with Company A, including promising to repay it.

The court judged, “If you look at the agreement signed with the bereaved family, the plaintiff is listed as a party, and the defendant appears to have been unaware of the main content of the agreement,” and concluded, “It is difficult to say that an agreement regarding repayment of the settlement amount was reached between the plaintiff and the defendant.”

He explained, "Because the plaintiff subcontracted the service work to the defendant, we cannot rule out the possibility that the plaintiff will also bear joint tort liability." Article 760, Paragraph 1 of the Civil Code stipulates that ‘when two persons cause damage to another person through a joint illegal act, they are jointly and severally liable to compensate for the damage.’ Company A's failure to submit documents and other evidence to prove that Mr. B had promised to repay was also used as the basis for the judgment that the plaintiff lost.

In relation to this, lawyer Jang Eun-min of Daeryun Law Firm, who represented Mr. B, said, "If the plaintiff claims that the defendant has agreed to pay part of another person's debt, the burden of proof for this also lies with the plaintiff." He added, "We were able to obtain a favorable judgment by emphasizing that Company A did not submit any evidence that it had received a delegation of agreement from Mr. B, and that Mr. B's name was not written in the agreement."

Reporter Jeong Ye-eun (ye9@kyeonggi.com)

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Company demands repayment of settlement money for deceased worker from subcontractor... Court "Dismissed" (Shortcut)