A landmark ruling by the Taiwan High Court’s Greater Tainan branch found Chimei Hospital partially responsible for former physician Tsai Po-chiang’s (蔡伯羌) overwork-related injuries.
The court ruled on Friday last week that Chimei should pay NT$7.8 million (US$247,000) compensation for the incident in which Tsai was hurt, which it labeled an “occupational accident.”
The ruling stands in stark contrast to a 2011 Tainan District Court verdict that only required the hospital to pay Tsai’s pension.
Labor rights advocates on Sunday said that Friday’s ruling was “progress” in protecting physicians’ rights and highlighted the importance of covering them under the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法).
Tsai collapsed outside an operating room in April 2009 after working for more than 30 hours straight. He reportedly worked more than 84 hours overtime a month for the six months prior to the accident.
He suffered lasting memory problems after the incident and following a short attempt to work again, he was deemed unable to continue his career.
Tsai’s family demanded NT$38 million in compensation from Chimei, based on the wages Tsai would have earned at the hospital until he retired, had he not suffered a collapse.
The Tainan District Court’s 2011 ruling said that the hospital could not be held responsible for overwork by physicians because they were not covered by the Labor Standards Act — which caps working hours at 84 hours per two weeks.
The High Court’s verdict circumvented the Labor Standards Act by classifying the incident as an “occupational accident” — thereby placing it under the auspices of the Occupational Accident Labor Protection Act (職業災害勞工保護法), which stipulates that employers should take responsibility for workplace injuries unless proof of non-negligence can be provided.
However, the High Court ruled that since Tsai exhibited symptoms of hyperlipidemia — or abnormally high levels of cholesterol and other lipids — at the time of the accident, his condition should account for 65 percent of the incident’s cause, so Chimei was not liable for the full amount demanded by the family.
Medical Labor Conditions Reform Group member Chen Liang-fu (陳亮甫) said that although Friday’s ruling was progress in terms of protecting physicians’ rights, the court failed to explain why Tsai should be held “65 percent responsible” for the incident.
Tsai’s wife said hyperlipidemia should only be considered “a background factor” and that the true cause of her husband’s accident was overwork.
She said she hopes his case can help raise awareness of the need to include physicians under the Labor Standards Act.
She also urged the hospital not to appeal the verdict.
“We hope they can just let us be,” she said.
Chimei Hospital said it would not issue an official response until it receives the written verdict.
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