Khaberni - A pilot from an Arab nationality filed a civil lawsuit in the UAE, seeking compensation valued at 6.6 million dirhams for physical and moral damages he suffered due to being assaulted and insulted by workers in a restaurant. The lawsuit also involved the company owning the hotel housing the restaurant and its managers, and the court ruled in his favor, awarding a total compensation of 55,000 dirhams.
The events of the lawsuit date back to when the plaintiff, of Arab nationality, was present in the restaurant, and a verbal dispute broke out between him and two employees (the first and second defendants), which escalated to them verbally abusing him and physically assaulting him with a hard object, causing him to suffer a fractured skull, brain contusion, and air accumulation in the cranial cavity. These injuries were described in the forensic report as disabling him from working for a period exceeding 20 days.
Meanwhile, the criminal court fined the first defendant one thousand dirhams for the charge of public insult, and the second defendant five thousand dirhams for assaulting the safety of the victim's body. In the appeal stage, the punishment was modified to fine each of them ten thousand dirhams, and the judgment became final after the expiry of the appeal deadlines, according to a certificate issued by the Public Prosecution.
After the criminal judgment was issued, the pilot filed a civil suit against the defendants, in addition to the restaurant manager and his partner, and the company owning the hotel. He pointed out that he suffered materially and morally from the incident, as his injuries impacted his career as a pilot, and led to the temporary cessation of his salary, delaying promotions due to not completing the required flying hours, in addition to difficulties in applying for new jobs due to the medical restrictions appearing in his health record. He also suffered from moral damages represented in psychological pain and social suffering that affected his reputation and professional life.
The defendants' legal representatives argued against the responsibility of some parties, claiming that the company owning the hotel (the fourth defendant) insisted that the restaurant where the incident occurred does not directly belong to it, while other representatives disputed the legal standing of some defendants.
After examining the lawsuit, the court ruled to oblige the second defendant "convicted of assault" and the company owning the hotel to pay compensation of 50,000 dirhams to the plaintiff, and also ordered the same company and the first defendant "convicted of committing the insult" to pay a compensation of 5,000 dirhams, in addition to statutory interest and fees, while it dismissed the lawsuit against two of the defendants due to the lack of evidence of their involvement in the incident.
