Court Rules Public Official Who Collapsed During Lunch Break Walk Died from Overwork

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The court has ruled that a public official who died while taking a walk after lunch, having been under work-related stress, died from "overwork-related death."

According to the legal community on the 24th, the Seoul Administrative Court Administrative Division 7 (Chief Judge Jeong Sanggyu) ruled in favor of the plaintiff in the first trial of the lawsuit filed by the family of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport public official Mr. A against the Ministry of Personnel Management, seeking cancellation of the denial of survivor benefits for death in the line of duty.

Earlier, Mr. A, who was working in the temporary government memorial hall construction promotion team at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, collapsed due to cardiac arrest while taking a walk after lunch with his team leader in April 2020. He was hospitalized for treatment but died a month later. It was investigated that since March 2016, he had been receiving treatment for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases such as atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, and cerebral infarction.

The family claimed that his death was work-related and applied for survivor benefits for death in the line of duty. However, the Ministry of Personnel Management rejected the claim, stating that "it is difficult to see a significant causal relationship between the death and official duties or overwork related to official duties."

The family filed an administrative lawsuit, arguing, "He performed his duties under extreme tension while preparing for the groundbreaking ceremony of the memorial hall. His death was caused by overwork and stress related to official duties." They also emphasized that Mr. A did not smoke or drink alcohol and took good care of his health.

The first trial ruled in favor of the family. It also rejected the Ministry of Personnel Management's claim that "Mr. A's overtime hours totaled only 80 hours over the six months before the cardiac arrest, so it cannot be considered overwork."

The court pointed out, "Due to the nature of his duties, the deceased appears to have handled work related to the construction site via email and KakaoTalk even after leaving work or on holidays," and added, "It is not possible to accurately grasp the actual working hours solely based on the recorded clock-in and clock-out times in the government service management system."

Furthermore, the court explained, "It is reasonable to conclude that the deceased's existing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases rapidly worsened due to overwork and stress from official duties, leading to cardiac arrest and death," and "since a significant causal relationship between official duties and death is recognized, the decision made on a different premise in this case is illegal and must be canceled."

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