In recent days, a Shanghai intern known as Xiaojin (pseudonym) drew a GeForce RTX 5060 graphics card worth about 3,000 RMB during a business trip. However, this joy was short-lived as a colleague traveling with him shattered it by saying, “The graphics card belongs to the company and needs to be turned in.” This sparked a heated online debate about the “ownership of prizes won by working individuals on business trips,” ultimately leading Xiaojin to submit a resignation application.
According to reports by Yangtze Evening News/Ziniu News, on November 20th, Xiaojin described that he was sent by the company to attend a roadshow hosted by NVIDIA in Suzhou on November 14. The rules of the collection lottery at the event clearly stated that it was “only open to on-site audience” and “each person is limited to one stamp card.” Xiaojin was lucky enough to win a high-value graphics card with his personal stamp card.
However, after he received the award, his colleague immediately demanded that he “surrender” the graphics card, on the grounds that Xiaojin was representing the company at the event, and all business trip expenses were covered by the company, so the prize “should belong to the company.” “This matter has been known to the finance department. You are representing the company at the event, and the travel expenses are covered by the company, so this graphics card should belong to the company. Bring it over next Monday,” the colleague said.
Xiaojin felt angry and puzzled by this, especially when he personally verified with the company’s finance department and found that they were completely unaware of the winning incident, which made him feel infuriated by his colleague’s “trap”.
Xiaojin revealed that in the following days, after the company’s top management got involved, the company held two meetings to discuss this matter and had a conversation with him. Although the graphics card was not forcibly confiscated in the end, during the final communication, the company’s HR approached him and delicately indicated that the situation had become quite tense, suggesting him to “look for another company.”
On the evening of November 19, Xiaojin had no choice but to submit a resignation application.
In the comments section of Xiaojin’s post, the vast majority of netizens also tended to support Xiaojin: “Why should a prize won by luck be confiscated?” “Let him show the document where the company assigned him to participate in the lottery.” Some netizens also joked, “If you were fined 50,000 RMB, would the company pay for you too?”
Regarding the incident of Xiaojin being asked to “surrender” the graphics card he won, Lawyer Tang Tai from Hainan Changyu Law Firm believes that the key to defining the ownership of prizes lies in determining whether the prize was obtained based on personal “luck” or as a result of performing “official duties”.
“Unless the company has clear provisions in its rules and regulations for such situations, or can prove that an employee’s participation in the lottery is part of their assigned official duties, the company’s claim for public ownership of the prize may not be legally sufficient,” Lawyer Tang emphasized. As the winner, Xiaojin is the rightful owner of the property protected by the Civil Code, and his rights should be respected.