A court ruling has determined that if a worker suffers a brain hemorrhage due to a traffic accident caused by drowsy driving on the way to work at 4 a.m., it qualifies as a 'work-related injury,' and the worker must be paid medical benefits under the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act.
According to the legal community on the 7th, Judge Kim Joo-wan of the Seoul Administrative Court, Administrative Division 11, ruled in favor of employee A (72), who works at a golf course in Gyeonggi Province, in a lawsuit against the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service seeking to overturn the denial of medical benefits.
In March 2019, while driving to work early in the morning, A caused an accident by crossing the center line and driving against traffic on a road in Goyang City, Gyeonggi Province, hitting a utility pole. Diagnosed with a brain hemorrhage at the hospital, A applied for medical benefits from the Service in July 2021, claiming the accident qualified as a commuting accident.
However, the Service rejected the application, stating that the brain hemorrhage was spontaneous and unrelated to trauma, and that it was difficult to recognize a causal relationship between A’s work and the onset of the condition.
A filed a lawsuit challenging the Service’s decision, and the court ruled in A’s favor. The court stated, "The plaintiff (A) was likely driving drowsily from around 4 a.m. to arrive at work by 5 a.m. while not yet adapted to the early morning shift, which caused the accident," and recognized "a significant causal relationship between the accident and the onset of the brain hemorrhage." Furthermore, the court added, "Even if work-related reasons overlap with underlying diseases or other illnesses as the main cause of the disease, causing or worsening the illness, a causal relationship between work and the disease can be recognized," and concluded, "Since the plaintiff developed the condition due to an accident occurring during the usual route and method of commuting, it is reasonable to consider this a commuting accident under the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act."
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