The High Court yesterday ordered the Yilan County Government to pay NT$1.38 million (US$44,299) in compensation to the family of a woman who was stung to death by hornets that had built a nest on a high-voltage utility pole.
The 87-year-old woman, surnamed Lee (李), died of allergic shock after being stung more than 20 times while working in her vegetable garden near Cihang Road on the morning of July 9, 2019.
In a suit seeking compensation, Lee’s family said that although the county government had dispatched workers to the site on June 29 after receiving a report about the nest, they did not remove it and failed to put up any kind of signage warning people of the danger.
Photo: Tsai Yun-jung, Taipei Times
In an initial trial and subsequent appeal, courts ruled that county workers had assessed the site according to the relevant guidelines, but were unable to remove the nest immediately because they needed to arrange for Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) to shut off electricity to the pole.
In a second and final appeal, the High Court overturned those decisions, ruling in favor of Lee’s family.
The High Court said that after visiting the site on June 29, the county government waited until July 2 to contact Taipower, despite knowing that the nest posed a serious danger to people in the area.
Although the county government arranged to remove the nest between 8pm and 9pm on July 9, when Taipower had agreed to shut off power to the pole, Lee had already been stung to death that morning, the court said.
The High Court found the county liable for Lee’s death, because it failed to put up warning signs around the area and was negligent in waiting several days to contact Taipower about the issue.
The court ordered the Yilan County Government to pay Lee’s family NT$1 million for emotional damages and NT$387,000 to reimburse her funeral expenses.
The verdict is final and cannot be appealed.
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