Teacher Dies While Playing Badminton During Training... Court Rules "Not a Work-Related Accident"

"Difficult to Recognize Overwork or Sudden Incident as Work-Related"

The court has ruled that the death of a teacher who died of a cerebral hemorrhage while participating in physical activities during a training period is unlikely to be recognized as a work-related accident.

According to the legal community on January 12, the Seoul Administrative Court's 13th Administrative Division (Presiding Judge Jin Hyunseop) recently ruled against the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by the spouse of the deceased teacher, Mr. A, seeking to overturn the denial of survivor's benefits by the head of the Ministry of Personnel Management.

Mr. A was appointed as a teacher and, during a training period under the Education Officials Act, suddenly collapsed while playing sports with acquaintances at a badminton court near his home. He was transported to the hospital, but despite receiving treatment, he died of cardiac arrest caused by a subarachnoid hemorrhage.

The bereaved family claimed that Mr. A's death constituted a work-related accident and applied for survivor's benefits. They argued that Mr. A had suffered significant mental stress throughout his teaching career and had experienced extreme pressure due to incidents such as an illegal filming case at his previous school, asserting a substantial causal relationship between his work and his death.

However, the Ministry of Personnel Management refused to provide survivor's benefits, stating, "It appears that the main cause of the illness was Mr. A's constitutional predisposition or pre-existing disease, rather than work-related overwork or stress."

The court reached the same conclusion. The panel stated, "Mr. A did not work any overtime at all during the six months prior to the onset of the illness, and there was a significant period during which he did not perform actual work due to winter vacation and training. Therefore, it is difficult to conclude that he was suffering from chronic excessive work at the time of the onset."

Regarding the cause of the subarachnoid hemorrhage, the court noted, "Hypertension, age, and strenuous exercise are known to be major risk factors, and Mr. A, who had a pre-existing condition of hypertension, developed the illness while playing badminton. It is difficult to rule out the possibility that the illness occurred due to factors unrelated to work-related stress."

The panel concluded, "There is no medical evidence to suggest that the illness developed or progressed abnormally due to overwork or stress from Mr. A's official duties," and determined that the Ministry of Personnel Management's denial of survivor's benefits was lawful.