Restaurant held liable after drunk falls to his death

A restaurant owner in Shanghai's Sonjiang district has been held partly responsible for the death of a man who got drunk, fell down a flight of stairs and died. 

The Songjiang district people’s court ordered the restaurant owner to pay 150,000 yuan ($24,000) to the man’s family.

The deceased man, surnamed Xu, died at the restaurant on October 5 after spending an evening drinking with friends. The 40 year old milk tea shop owner met seven friends at around 6pm, two of whom left during dinner. At 8:30pm Xu left to go to the bathroom on a different level and according to the court fell while traversing the stairs in a drunken state and was later pronounced dead in hospital.

Given that there was no railing on the stairwell, Xu’s family sued the restaurant owner for 300,000 yuan ($48,000). However the court refused to grant the family the entire sum and found Xu partly responsible for his demise.

The court also ordered Xu's five companions to each pay 20,000 yuan ($3,200) to Xu's family for failing to look out for their drunken friend.