A federal wrongful-death lawsuit alleges that employees of Philadelphia-based Aramark Corporation 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, raises critical questions about corporate responsibility for international operations and patient safety standards in contracted healthcare facilities.
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 seeking medical help. The complaint details that 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. The filing alleges the floor was later locked and the lights turned off with Graff still inside the facility.
When Graff's wife arrived around 11 p.m., she had been unable to reach him for hours. Aramark security initially refused her entry, granting access only after she involved police and they reviewed surveillance footage. She found him unconscious and barely alive at approximately 2:15 a.m. Only after pleading with Aramark 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.
This case highlights significant implications for international corporate operations and patient safety standards. As global companies like Aramark expand their service contracts overseas, this lawsuit raises questions about whether adequate staffing, training and oversight protocols are maintained across international facilities. The incident occurred at a facility that contracted with Philadelphia-based Aramark to provide cleaning and security services, demonstrating how corporate decisions made in headquarters can directly impact safety outcomes thousands of miles away.
The lawsuit names Philadelphia-based Aramark Corporation and multiple subsidiaries, alleging negligent hiring, training, supervision and retention. Brett J. Kaminsky of Friedman Schuman Layser PC stated, This case is about systemic neglect that starts at Aramark's headquarters, right here in Philadelphia. Aramark failed to ensure adequate staffing, training and oversight, and those failures cost a young man his life. The case was initially filed in Pennsylvania state court before Aramark removed it to federal court on May 29, 2025.
This legal action serves as a critical reminder about corporate accountability in global operations and the importance of maintaining consistent safety standards across all contracted facilities. The outcome could establish important precedents for how U.S. companies manage their international service contracts and the legal responsibilities they bear for employee conduct abroad. For more information about the case details, visit https://www.paed.uscourts.gov.
