📌 Case Summary

Date of accident: November 2022

Location: A bathhouse in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon

Victim: A 42-year-old woman (A)

Incident:
A slipped inside the bathhouse when her foot slid backward, causing her to fall forward and strike her face on the floor.

Injuries sustained:

Bilateral condylar process fractures

Left mandibular fracture

Tooth root fracture

Tooth crown fracture
→ Overall, significant facial and dental injuries.




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📌 Contributing Factors

The bathhouse owner (B) allowed customers to bring drinks and ice into the facility.

As a result, the floor had previously become slippery due to spilled beverages.

Importantly, the bathhouse did not have any signage such as:
“Caution: The floor may be slippery.”



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📌 Court’s Reasoning

Judge Jeong Jin-won (Daejeon District Court, Civil Division 14) held that:

1. The owner has a duty to safely maintain and manage the premises.
Bathhouses inherently have wet, soapy floors, creating a constant risk of slipping.
Therefore, the owner must:

Install “slippery floor” warning signs

Use anti-slip facilities

Clean slippery areas regularly



2. The owner breached that duty.
By:

Allowing beverage and ice entry, contributing to slipperiness

Failing to install any warning sign
→ The court found a defect in installation/maintenance of the facility.





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📌 However — 60% Comparative Fault Assigned to the Victim

The court reduced the owner’s liability to 40% because:

Bathhouse floors are always wet, and A had a duty to exercise caution.

A fell forward, which is less typical than falling backward; this contributed to the severity of injury.



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📌 Damages Awarded

Total damages recognized (before apportionment):

Lost income: 4.07 million KRW

Past medical expenses: 10.68 million KRW

Future medical expenses: 13.6 million KRW

Pain and suffering (general damages): 4 million KRW


40% of the above → approx. 15.35 million KRW awarded to A.

Article: https://www.lawtimes.co.kr/Case-curation/213673