A Taoyuan man who last year slipped, fell and broke ornaments on an antique clock has been ordered to pay NT$300,000, the Taoyuan District Court ruled on Tuesday.
The Xintianebao (新天鵝堡) residential building in Taoyuan’s Lujhu District (蘆竹) was named after Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany. Considered premier real estate, its units are sold at about NT$280,000 per ping (3.31m2).
On June 7 last year, the defendant, surnamed Weng (翁), was walking through the main lobby of the building, where he works as a tutor to a family living in the building, when he tripped on a stair and fell on a decorative antique clock, damaging ceramic ornaments on its casing, the court said.
Photo: courtesy of a member of the public
Weng signed a written agreement to pay for the damage, but he reneged on the deal after negotiations to set a specific sum broke down, and the management board filed a lawsuit against him asking for NT$546,000 in compensation, the court said.
In March the district court ruled against Weng and ordered him to pay the board NT$300,000.
Weng filed an appeal, admitting that he had damaged the clock, but cited mitigating circumstances, such as the failure of the board to post a warning about the step or install protective barriers around the clock.
He said NT$300,000 was excessive, because the board paid only NT$23,100 for the repairs.
The court rejected his arguments, saying that experts supported the plaintiff’s claim that the clock is an antique artwork and its value is increased by age, and ordinary rules to deduct value from damaged objects did not apply.
The court said that the cost of the repairs did not reflect the value of the damage caused, as experts said the repairs were incomplete, with visible cracks and chips, likely because of the scarcity of qualified craftsmen to repair ceramics in Taiwan.
Since the clock was a decorative object for the building’s residents, installing protective barriers around it would have defeated its purpose, and the board is not liable for not having protective barriers around it, the court said.
The original ruling was upheld and Weng is required to pay the damages, the court said.
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