Supreme Court: Disability Benefits Must Be Paid for Visual Impairment 13 Years After Accident

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The family of an employee who developed visual impairment due to the recurrence of aftereffects 13 years after an accident at a gas station car wash has been recognized the right to receive disability benefits.

The Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Lee Ki-taek) announced on the 21st that it overturned the lower court's ruling, which had dismissed the appeal filed by the wife of car wash employee Mr. A against the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service's refusal to pay disability benefits, and remanded the case to the Seoul High Court with a ruling in favor of the plaintiff.

The court ruled that since Mr. A's eye condition worsened even after his medical treatment ended, the starting point of the statute of limitations for the claim should be reset to a date after September 2005, when the healing point occurred.

This was based on the fact that after September 2005, Mr. A received multiple diagnoses of vision loss, and specialists determined that these were related to the 2005 car wash accident.

The court stated, "The disability benefit claim right should be newly acquired at the healing point when symptoms stabilized after September 2005, and the statute of limitations should be considered to start anew from that time."

In July 2005, Mr. A suffered an accident at a gas station where he was splashed all over with caustic soda used for car washing.

After being diagnosed with 'corneal chemical burn,' he received approval for medical care from the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service and was treated at a hospital until September of the same year.

Even after the medical care period ended, Mr. A continued to receive hospital treatment, and in February 2018, he was diagnosed with visual impairment, including 'chemical burn of the right cornea,' at Bundang Seoul National University Hospital. In March of that year, he claimed disability benefits from the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service, stating that his visual impairment was due to the 2005 accident.

However, the Service rejected the claim, stating that the three-year statute of limitations for claims had already expired based on the end date of the medical care period in September 2005. After Mr. A passed away, his wife filed a lawsuit against the Service.

Disability benefits are paid when a worker has a disability remaining after no longer needing further treatment.

The key issue in the trial was determining the point in time when treatment was no longer necessary, i.e., the healing point.

The first trial ruled that the statute of limitations for the disability benefit claim started in September 2005, and since there was no disability within the following three years, the Service's decision not to pay benefits was lawful.

Mr. A's side appealed, but the second trial also dismissed the claim for the same reasons as the first trial.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.