Curated News
By: NewsRamp Editorial Staff
October 06, 2025
Aramark Sued Over US Citizen's Death in Chinese Hospital Neglect
TLDR
- This lawsuit against Aramark demonstrates how corporate negligence can create legal exposure and reputational damage for companies operating internationally.
- The lawsuit details how Aramark employees ignored a medical emergency for 15 hours through systematic failures in training, supervision, and emergency response protocols.
- This case highlights the urgent need for better international healthcare standards to prevent similar tragedies and protect vulnerable individuals abroad.
- Security footage revealed Aramark staff cleaned around an unresponsive man for hours before he died in a Chinese hospital under their care.
Impact - Why it Matters
This case highlights critical safety concerns for Americans traveling abroad and raises serious questions about corporate accountability for overseas operations. When multinational corporations provide essential services like security and cleaning in foreign hospitals, they bear responsibility for ensuring proper training and emergency protocols. The alleged 15-hour period of neglect demonstrates how systemic failures can have fatal consequences, potentially affecting any traveler who relies on international facilities. This lawsuit could set important precedents for holding U.S. companies accountable for their overseas operations and may prompt reforms in how multinational corporations train and supervise staff in foreign countries, ultimately improving safety standards for all international travelers.
Summary
A federal wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Friedman Schuman Layser PC attorneys Brett J. Kaminsky and Katherine Lekh alleges that Philadelphia-based Aramark employees ignored 37-year-old U.S. citizen Zachary Graff for more than 15 hours during a medical emergency at Gulou Hospital in Nanjing, China, leading to his preventable death. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, claims that at least 10 Aramark employees saw Graff in clear medical distress on May 7, 2023, but failed to alert medical personnel. According to the lawsuit, staff cleaned around him, walked past him, talked to him while he was unresponsive, and ultimately locked him on the hospital's fourth floor overnight. The case alleges systemic neglect stemming from Aramark's headquarters in Philadelphia, with attorney Brett J. Kaminsky stating that the company "failed to ensure adequate staffing, training and oversight, and those failures cost a young man his life."
The tragic incident unfolded when Graff visited a clinic inside Gulou Hospital, which contracts with Aramark for cleaning and security services, to fill a prescription for chronic knee pain. After taking medication around 10:30 a.m., he began staggering and sat in a chair near an escalator on the fourth floor, where he remained unresponsive and breathing abnormally for hours. Security footage reviewed by the family shows Aramark employees walking past Graff repeatedly over 15 hours, with one security guard telling him to "stop sleeping" on three occasions and another employee picking up his fallen phone charger. The filing alleges the floor was later locked and lights turned off with Graff still inside. When his wife arrived around 11 p.m. after being unable to reach him for hours, Aramark security initially refused her entry until police intervention and surveillance review. She found him unconscious and barely alive at approximately 2:15 a.m., and only after pleading with security guards did they call for medical assistance. Medical personnel arrived at 2:28 a.m. but were unable to resuscitate Graff, who was pronounced dead at 2:48 a.m. The lawsuit names Philadelphia-based Aramark Corporation and multiple subsidiaries, alleging negligent hiring, training, supervision and retention. To learn more about this case, continue reading here.
Source Statement
This curated news summary relied on content disributed by 24-7 Press Release. Read the original source here, Aramark Sued Over US Citizen's Death in Chinese Hospital Neglect
