Chinese Court Accepts Civil Lawsuit in Melamine-Tainted Milk Scandal; Criminal Convictions Upheld
A Chinese court in Shijiazhuang has reportedly agreed to accept a lawsuit filed by the parents of a child allegedly affected by the 2007 melamine contamination of milk and infant formula. Until this week, no court had accepted the litigation, a first step in securing compensation outside the administrative procedures established by the government. According to a news source, as many as 600 families refused to accept the compensation offers from the 22 dairy companies that agreed to provide payments ranging from US$290 to US$29,000. The families apparently believed the amounts were not enough to cover emotional suffering and other losses.
The Beijing lawyer who filed the case that has been accepted reportedly indicated that it involves an 11-month-old girl who became sick from infant formula manufactured by the now-bankrupt Sanlu Group. The family is seeking about US$4,500, the smallest of the six lawsuits the lawyer has filed against milk producers. He was quoted as saying, “As long as we can prove that the children drank Sanlu’s products, then there is no question we will win. The only question really is how much compensation will be awarded.”
In a related development, an intermediate appellate court has apparently upheld the sentences imposed on individuals found responsible for producing and selling the tainted milk. The former chair of the Sanlu Group, sentenced to life in prison, lost her appeal. Death sentences against two men have been upheld as has another life sentence, against a middle man who supplied the melamine to the dairies. See Jurist Legal News & Research, March 25, 2009; The New York Times, BBC News, March 26, 2009.
