Is dying of a heart attack after sex on a business trip a work accident or not?

In "It's My Job," this August, we explore some of the most significant labor law disputes of recent years. Today, we focus on accidents while traveling for work.

The incident dates back to 2013. A railway construction company sent a technician to a construction site and booked him a night in a hotel. But that evening, the employee didn't return to his room. He met a woman, they had sex at her house, and he died of a heart attack in her bed at 10 p.m.

The woman called the police, who notified the employer, who reported the death to the primary health insurance fund. This is where a battle ensued. For Social Security, this death was a work-related accident because it occurred during the work assignment, regardless of whether it was caused by a professional act or an act of everyday life.

The employer doesn't see it that way. He disputes it, arguing that at the time of his death, the technician had knowingly interrupted his mission, for a reason dictated solely by his personal interest. And what's more, he had died in the arms of a complete stranger, outside his hotel room—in short, that none of this had anything to do with his work.

But the judges of the Social Security Court dismissed the claim. They stated that even if the accident occurred somewhere other than the room reserved by the company, this did not, in itself, prove that the employee was not under the authority of his employer. They also specified that sexual intercourse "falls within the scope of everyday activities, such as taking a shower or eating." The company took the case to the Paris Court of Appeal in 2019. It lost there too.

The law does not joke about accidents during business trips. "It considers that an employee on assignment is under the 24/7 responsibility of his employer and that, when an accident occurs, it is presumed to be an accident at work," summarizes lawyer Diane Buisson. "Unless the employer provides proof that it occurred in a non-professional setting." Which is difficult, as we have just seen.

For over 20 years, case law has been consistent in this type of case. In 2017, for example, an employee on assignment in China was injured while dancing in a nightclub at 3 a.m. The employer failed to demonstrate that he had interrupted his work for personal reasons. The same applies to the fall of a flight attendant while skateboarding during a layover in Florida.