Man paralyzed after diving into hotel pool

/Yonhap

A court ruled Thursday that a hotel was liable for compensation for damages caused from diving into its swimming pool if proper warning signs were not posted to warn against diving into shallow areas.

Seoul Central District Court ordered the hotel to pay 330 million won (US $300,000) in compensation to a man who became a quadriplegic after hitting the bottom of the shallow end of its pool.

The man checked into a five-star hotel in Seoul with his girlfriend on August 2011. He later dived into the 1.2m deep swimming pool and hit his head on the floor, severely injuring his spine.

“Although there were signs signaling the depth of the pool, users could ― in an excited mood ― have dived without recognizing the danger. The hotel should have prevented the accident with warning signs,” court decided.

“But, because the accident happened during daytime where the danger was recognizable with the shallowness of water, the plaintiff is partly responsible,” the court added, limiting the hotel’s liability to 20 percent.