Claim of Brain Hemorrhage After One Week of Additional Remote Work... Court Rules "Denial of Care Application Justified"

An employee who suffered an intracerebral hemorrhage claimed that he had short-term overwork including working overtime while telecommuting, and filed a lawsuit against the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service's denial of medical care approval, but lost the case.

Seoul Administrative Court

According to the legal community on the 9th, Judge Yoon Sung-jin of the Seoul Administrative Court, Administrative Division 6, ruled against plaintiff A, an employee of a construction company, in the lawsuit to cancel the denial of medical care approval filed against the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service.

Since 2017, A had worked at a construction company handling overseas sales and litigation and arbitration related to construction costs. In August 2021, A was transported to a hospital emergency room with symptoms of paralysis in the left leg and was diagnosed with intracerebral hemorrhage.

Subsequently, in January 2022, A applied for medical care from the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service, claiming that overwork and work-related stress were the causes of the illness, but the Service denied the claim. The Service judged that "A did not meet the criteria for short-term or chronic overwork, and no work-related stress beyond the usual burden was confirmed." Dissatisfied, A filed an administrative lawsuit.

A argued that he had additional telecommuting work during the week immediately before the onset, and that if night work hours during on-site and telecommuting hours were weighted, the total working hours in the week before the onset increased by more than 30% compared to before, thus meeting the criteria for short-term overwork. He also stated that he was working under high mental tension handling overseas litigation, arbitration, and financing related to the company's rehabilitation process.

However, the court sided with the Service. The court stated, "The email records cited by A as evidence of telecommuting are insufficient to conclude that he continuously maintained a work state at home," and "It is difficult to believe that the company's confirmation letter on telecommuting was written after verifying that A maintained a work state during telecommuting."

Furthermore, the court noted, "Given the nature of the plant construction industry, it is difficult to consider litigation and arbitration related to construction costs as sudden or accidental tasks," and "It is hard to see these as causes of work-related burdens or stress that would cause extreme fear, surprise, or excitement that could impair cerebrovascular function."

The court also pointed out, "A had risk factors for cerebral hemorrhage such as diabetes, hyperlipidemia, alcohol consumption, and smoking," and "Considering expert opinions, it is difficult to view the illness as cerebral hemorrhage triggered by work-related burdens or stress; rather, it may be the result of the realization of risk factors present in A."

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