Court awards teenager 18k yuan for injured ear

A former student of an athletics school has been awarded 18,278 yuan ($2,937) in compensation from the family of a classmate who injured him nearly four years ago, a district court in Shanghai said Wednesday.

The plaintiff, the family of the 13-year-old boy, whom the court called Wang Qiao, sued the school and the family of the other student in January for 20,000 yuan to cover the boy's medical bills and related expenses, according to a press release from Jing'an District People's Court.

In 2010, Wang and the student who attacked him, whom the court called Yu Dong, attended the same school in Jiading district. They were in the same swimming class together.

Yu struck Wang in the ear during an argument on July 21, the court said. The next day, a teacher sent Wang to a hospital, where doctors found that he had ruptured his left eardrum.

Over the next two and a half years, Wang's family spent about 16,000 yuan on treatment for the injury.

The court found Yu's family clearly had an obligation to compensate Wang.

There was a dispute over whether the school, which paid 18,000 yuan to Wang's family in September 2012, was also responsible for the boy's injury. The school argued that the teacher stopped the boys from fighting once he noticed the dispute, the court said.

The court ruled that the school was responsible for the injury because it failed to prevent Yu from hurting Wang. The school also failed to immediately inform Wang's parents about the fight or immediately send the boy to the hospital.

However, because the school has already paid compensation to the family, it doesn't owe them any additional money.