Lawsuit Alleges Aramark Employees Ignored Dying Man in Chinese Hospital for 15 Hours

A federal wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Friedman Schuman Layser PC attorneys 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 a hospital in China, resulting in his preventable death. The case, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, highlights critical concerns about multinational corporations' responsibility for employee training and oversight in international healthcare settings.

The complaint states that on May 7, 2023, Graff visited a clinic inside Gulou Hospital in Nanjing to fill a prescription for chronic knee pain. After taking medication around 10:30 a.m., he began staggering through the facility and sat in a chair near an escalator on the hospital's fourth floor, where he remained unresponsive and breathing abnormally for hours. According to the lawsuit, at least 10 Aramark employees saw Graff in clear medical distress but failed to alert medical personnel.

Fifteen hours of security footage reviewed by the family shows Aramark employees walking past Graff repeatedly, cleaning around him and attempting to engage him without recognizing the medical emergency. One security guard told him to "stop sleeping" on three occasions, while another Aramark employee picked up his phone charger that had fallen to the floor, according to the complaint. The filing alleges the floor was later locked and the lights turned off with Graff still inside.

When Graff's wife arrived around 11 p.m., having been unable to reach him for hours, Aramark security initially refused her entry. Only after she involved police and they reviewed surveillance video was she granted access. She found him unconscious and barely alive at approximately 2:15 a.m. Despite her pleading with Aramark security guards, medical assistance wasn't called until her intervention. Emergency responders arrived at 2:28 a.m. but were unable to resuscitate Graff, who was pronounced dead at 2:48 a.m.

"This case is about systemic neglect that starts at Aramark's headquarters, right here in Philadelphia," said Brett J. Kaminsky of Friedman Schuman Layser PC. "Aramark failed to ensure adequate staffing, training and oversight, and those failures cost a young man his life." The lawsuit names Philadelphia-based Aramark Corporation and multiple subsidiaries, alleging negligent hiring, training, supervision and retention.

The case, Baehmann v. Aramark Corp. et al., No. 2:25-cv-02758, was initially filed in Pennsylvania state court before Aramark removed it to federal court on May 29, 2025. The complaint seeks compensatory damages and a jury trial. This lawsuit raises significant questions about the accountability of international service providers in healthcare settings and the adequacy of emergency response protocols for multinational corporations operating abroad.