Should a heart attack during an adulterous tryst on a business trip count as a work-related accident? A French court has ruled it should and that his employer was liable. The man, who was identified in court documents only as Xavier, travelled in 2013 to the Loiret region in central France as a security technician for the rail engineering company TSO. After work one night, he had sex with a woman at her house before returning to his hotel. He later died from a heart attack said to have been linked to the encounter.
A health insurance fund decided that the death resulted from a work-related accident, but TSO appealed, saying that the employee had interrupted his work trip for an adulterous relationship and had therefore acted outside the company’s purview.
The court of appeal in Paris upheld the insurance fund’s decision in a ruling released in May, but the case only gained public attention after the details were published last week on LinkedIn by a French lawyer, Sarah Balluet. Like that of other countries, French law considers any accident that happens on a business trip to be work-related, even if the activity is not closely related to the employee’s mission.
The court in Paris said that the law protected employees engaged in everyday activities for the entirety of any such trip, unless they interrupted business activities. It heard from the insurance fund that sex was part of everyday life, “like having a shower or a meal,” and that the employee, therefore, was covered by work-related protections. Finding that TSO could not show a schedule proving that the man was supposed to be working, the court upheld the insurance fund claim. Balluet said it lowered the bar for workplace accidents.
According to French health insurance fund, the partner of a person who dies in a workrelated accident can receive a pension of up to 40% of the deceased’s income.
A health insurance fund decided that the death resulted from a work-related accident, but TSO appealed, saying that the employee had interrupted his work trip for an adulterous relationship and had therefore acted outside the company’s purview.
The court of appeal in Paris upheld the insurance fund’s decision in a ruling released in May, but the case only gained public attention after the details were published last week on LinkedIn by a French lawyer, Sarah Balluet. Like that of other countries, French law considers any accident that happens on a business trip to be work-related, even if the activity is not closely related to the employee’s mission.
The court in Paris said that the law protected employees engaged in everyday activities for the entirety of any such trip, unless they interrupted business activities. It heard from the insurance fund that sex was part of everyday life, “like having a shower or a meal,” and that the employee, therefore, was covered by work-related protections. Finding that TSO could not show a schedule proving that the man was supposed to be working, the court upheld the insurance fund claim. Balluet said it lowered the bar for workplace accidents.
According to French health insurance fund, the partner of a person who dies in a workrelated accident can receive a pension of up to 40% of the deceased’s income.
more from times of india news
Get the app