Austrian Supreme Court: no liability of the tour operator for rare injury caused by narrow seating in a coach

The plaintiff who had booked a coach tour package with the defendant tour operator sued for EUR 8.000 compensation for pain and suffering. He claimed that because of the narrow seating in the coach used by the defendant, as of the fourth day of the trip he had suffered pain from a lesion of the nerves in his left leg.The Supreme Court upheld the appelate court’s decision to dismiss the claim: due to the evidence produced and the lower courts’ factual findings, the injury was of a very rare kind and thus had not been foreseeable for the defandant. As any liability for negligence would only cover damages which had been foreseeable for the injuring party, the appelate court had correctly decided to dismiss the claim.Full text of judgement 3 Ob 138/11g of Oct. 12, 2011 available in German here>>.

Leave a Comment