“Screw you.”

Learn to appreciate this phrase if your Chinese employee ever utters it, then quits, because it’s better than the alternative: “I’m going to sue you.”

Unfortunately, yes, China is becoming a litigious society, thanks to “improvements” in labor law, greater legal protection for intellectual property rights, and an overall sense that “I’m gonna get me mine.”

“Chinese workers are not hesitating to seek to enforce their rights in the courts and they are flooding China’s court dockets with labor cases,” China Law Blog (CLB) reports. “Since last year, labor disputes have increased in Beijing’s Chaoyang District People’s Court by 106%, by 231% in Nanjing’s Qinhuai District People’s Court, 126% in Shenzhen, 132% in Dongguan and 92% in Guangzhou. This increase in labor law cases proves both that Chinese workers are aware of their new rights under the LCL and that they perceive themselves as having new rights worth enforcing.”

Under the new law, Chinese can sue employers directly instead of having to rely on government assistance to do so, according to CLB.

Meanwhile, J. Benjamin Bai, who works both in Shanghai and Houston for Jones Day, a major global law firm, tells Knight-Ridder Tribune Business News: “China is the most litigious country in the world in terms of intellectual property lawsuits. This shocks most people in the U.S.”

According to Jones Day, China became the world’s most litigious country for intellectual property disputes in 2005, surpassing the United States’ 10,905 cases with 13,424 cases of its own. Although in this area, foreign companies are increasingly sued, the vast majority of action is taken against Chinese.

Well, at least China is in no need of tort reform like in the U.S. right? C’mon everybody, remember the infamous McDonald’s hot coffee lawsuit back in 1994? The one where a woman spilled hot coffee onto her lap and sued the company, and won millions in an initial judgment?

If you leave the millions out of it, you could make the case that China is becoming crazily litigious with Chinese characteristics.

Ethical Corporation’s website notes the following example:

Feng was on his way to a public toilet near his factory recently when he stumbled and broke his right arm. He sued his employers and won compensation. The court ruled in favour of the plaintiff because it deemed that the company should have toilet facilities on site and that Feng was on the building site at the time of the incident even if he was on his way to the toilet. The company was ordered to pay Feng RMB8,000 (US$986).

And yep, fast food joints are under attack in China too. Ethical Corporation notes:

A KFC customer in southern China is suing the fast food chain after claiming she found a worm in her takeaway meal. The woman is claiming US$6,100 compensation for psychological damage from the restaurant, saying she has been unable to eat fried food since. Her lawsuit has been filed against the KFC branch in Guangzhou, Guangdong province and its holding company Yum! Restaurants International.

Suddenly, suing over a hot coffee spill doesn’t seem as ridiculous.

    Channel: Vital News     |