Died After 136 Hours of Overtime per Month on COVID-19 Duty... Court Recognizes Death in the Line of Duty

Court: "Death Caused by Aggravation of Stomach Cancer"

The court has ruled that a public official who died of stomach cancer after suffering from overwork due to COVID-19 response duties should be recognized as having died in the line of duty.

On the 26th, Yonhap News reported that the Seoul Administrative Court's Administrative Division 3 (Presiding Judge Choi Sujin) recently ruled in favor of the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by the family of public official A against the head of the Ministry of Personnel Management, seeking to overturn the denial of survivor benefits for death in the line of duty.

Seoul Administrative Court. Yonhap News

Previously, in April 2020, as COVID-19 spread, A was working as a public health official at a health center in South Jeolla Province and was solely responsible for COVID-19 response duties during this period. In June of the following year, A died of stomach cancer.

In February 2022, A's family applied for survivor benefits, claiming the death was due to an occupational injury. The Ministry of Personnel Management rejected the application, stating, "Given the medical characteristics of stomach cancer, it is difficult to see the result as stemming from job-related factors such as overwork or stress, according to medical opinion. Therefore, a significant causal relationship with official duties cannot be recognized."

The court's judgment differed. Administrative Division 3 pointed out that in February 2021, when A was diagnosed with stomach cancer, A had recorded 136 hours of overtime work. The court stated, "As the practical manager, A responded immediately to confirmed cases, people subject to quarantine, and overseas arrivals regardless of weekdays, weekends, day, or night, resulting in excessive overtime work."

The court added, "Although the causal relationship between stress and cancer has not been medically clarified, numerous studies have confirmed that stress affects the onset and progression of cancer. It is reasonable to conclude that A experienced significant stress while performing high-intensity and high-difficulty duties, which caused the already developed stomach cancer to worsen at a rate faster than its natural course, ultimately leading to death."