Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Family, Civil and Administrative Court has ordered a customer to pay Dh20,000 in compensation to a delivery worker for material and moral damages resulting from a physical and verbal assault during a food delivery.

The ruling follows the customer’s criminal conviction in the incident, for which he was sentenced to two months in prison and fined Dh10,000. The prison sentence was suspended for three years.

According to court records, the delivery worker filed a lawsuit seeking Dh50,000 in compensation for the material and moral damages he suffered, in addition to legal interest of 9% from the date the lawsuit was filed until full payment, as well as fees and expenses.

The claimant stated that while delivering a food order to the defendant, he was unexpectedly assaulted, beaten and verbally abused with offensive language. He also alleged that the defendant took the food order without paying for it. The incident prompted him to seek medical treatment and file a report with the relevant authorities.

He noted that the case resulted in the customer’s criminal conviction and sentence of two months’ imprisonment and a Dh10,000 fine, with the prison term suspended for three years.

The delivery worker argued that the assault caused both material and moral harm, including injury to his physical well-being, disruption to his ability to work, damage to his dignity, and feelings of fear and anxiety. The defendant, in turn, submitted a memorandum requesting that the case be dismissed.

In its reasoning, the court stated that a final criminal judgment is binding on a civil court when it conclusively determines the occurrence of an act, its legal description and responsibility for it, where these issues form a common basis for both cases.

The court noted that the criminal judgment established the defendant’s guilt in assaulting the delivery worker through physical violence and verbal insults, thereby proving fault on the defendant’s part.

Regarding compensation, the court found that the claimant had suffered material damage through the disruption of his interests and inability to perform his work, as well as moral damage arising from humiliation and the violation of his dignity as a result of the assault and insults.

The court concluded that the delivery worker was entitled to compensation and ordered the customer to pay Dh20,000 for the material and moral damages suffered.