Court: "Stress and Overwork Cause Illness, Considered Work-Related Injury"

Seoul Administrative Court. / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Jo] The court has ruled that even if there is no direct connection like an accident, stress or overwork experienced while working that causes or worsens a disease qualifies as a work-related injury.

According to the legal community on the 22nd, the Seoul Administrative Court, Administrative Division 7 (Chief Presiding Judge Kim Gukhyeon) ruled in favor of the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by the family of Mr. A against the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service, seeking cancellation of the denial of survivor benefits and funeral expenses. The court stated, "It is presumed that work-related overwork and stress caused or worsened Mr. A's illness, leading to his death," and added, "Mr. A's death qualifies as a work-related injury."

Mr. A was found unconscious in the security office of an apartment in Gumi-si, Gyeongbuk Province, where he worked as a security guard in September 2018. He was transported to the hospital but never regained consciousness and passed away. The cause of death was determined to be acute cardiac death related to coronary artery sclerosis. In July of the following year, Mr. A's spouse filed a claim for survivor benefits and funeral expenses with the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service. However, the Service rejected the claim, stating that it was difficult to recognize a causal relationship between the work and the death. Mr. A's spouse filed a lawsuit challenging this decision.

The court ruled in favor of Mr. A's spouse. The court stated, "Even if the main cause of the disease is not directly related to the performance of work, if work-related overwork or stress caused or worsened it, there is a causal relationship with the death." Furthermore, the court elaborated, "It is reasonable to view that the excessive workload and stress were causes of Mr. A's death, who had been performing security duties in the same apartment for over nine years, after the retirement of the building manager and conflicts with residents over parking."

Earlier, it was revealed during the trial that in the year Mr. A died, the workload increased sharply after the building manager of the apartment where he worked retired. It was also investigated that around the time of his death, Mr. A was verbally abused by residents due to the double parking issue in the apartment parking lot. Until then, he had never complained of health problems nor received treatment for cardiovascular disease.

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