Current Events > Court: man injured on way to home office had workplace accident

(+) Yeah! (+)

A German court has ruled that a man who fell down a staircase while walking from his bedroom to his home office injured himself at work and is therefore covered under his companys workplace accident insurance policy.
In a ruling published on Wednesday, Germanys Federal Social Court delivered a victory for an unnamed area sales manager who broke his back at home in 2018. The man, who typically started his day without having breakfast and headed immediately to his home office, slipped on the spiral staircase in his apartment while walking down a floor to his home office and broke a thoracic vertebra.
According to online court documents, which were translated to English using Safari, a lower court had previously ruled that the mans walk to his home office was not an insured company path, but rather an uninsured preparatory act that only precedes the actual insured activity. The employee appealed the decision to a higher court.

In his appeal, the employee argued that employees who work from home should not receive less protection from accident insurance than others in the company. He pointed out that during the current pandemic, many people worked from home in Germany.

In fact, the country enacted a work from home rule from January to June that mandated employers let employees work remotely because of the coronavirus pandemic. It is currently considering a similar measure in light of rising covid-19 infections in Europe.
The Federal Social Court agreed with the workers appeal. It stated that in exceptional cases, a path to the company can also exist in a domestic area if the apartment and workplace are in the same building.

https://gizmodo.com/german-court-rules-man-who-broke-his-back-walking-from-1848190632

fuck yeah

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Lawyers make everything fun

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On the one hand, I'm not exactly broken up that the company insurance will pay for his medical bills. That works out well for him, and the company can afford it. On the other hand, there's not one single thing the company could have done to mitigate this risk and it really doesn't seem like their responsibility IMO

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eston posted...

On the one hand, I'm not exactly broken up that the company insurance will pay for his medical bills. That works out well for him, and the company can afford it. On the other hand, there's not one single thing the company could have done to mitigate this risk and it really doesn't seem like their responsibility IMO

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a home staircase is not a workplace.

when I was working from home, there was some legalese in my agreement where my "immediate work area", i.e. the room I was in, was considered my work place. had I been injured in the hall outside my room, that would not have been considered a workplace accident.

but this is the territory we're now heading into where anything related to our working from home is considered the responsibility of employers. no doubt the legal profession is watering its mouth at that prospect...

That's based as shit

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eston posted...

On the one hand, I'm not exactly broken up that the company insurance will pay for his medical bills. That works out well for him, and the company can afford it. On the other hand, there's not one single thing the company could have done to mitigate this risk and it really doesn't seem like their responsibility IMO

Indeed

This will have repercussions as companies seek ways to protect their own interests.

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i wonder, would that ruling count if you got into a wreck while commuting to work.

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monkmith posted...

i wonder, would that ruling count if you got into a wreck while commuting to work.

IIRC, only if you're on the clock.
Tho, no clue if it'd be different in Germany

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eston posted...

On the other hand, there's not one single thing the company could have done to mitigate this risk and it really doesn't seem like their responsibility IMO

It's a question of insurance. Shit happens without it being anyone's fault all the time and someone has to pay anyway

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The real problem here is why doesnt his regular medical insurance cover it? It shouldnt even be a question of does he have to get his job to pay for it or not.

All these bullshit insurance loopholes need to be closed. If you get hurt your insurance should just cover it. Period.

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MrDrMan posted...

The real problem here is why doesnt his regular medical insurance cover it? It shouldnt even be a question of does he have to get his job to pay for it or not.

All these bullshit insurance loopholes need to be closed. If you get hurt your insurance should just cover it. Period.

but then how would insurance companies be able to make fuck tons of money!

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MrDrMan posted...

The real problem here is why doesnt his regular medical insurance cover it? It shouldnt even be a question of does he have to get his job to pay for it or not.

All these bullshit insurance loopholes need to be closed. If you get hurt your insurance should just cover it. Period.

medical insurance wouldn't cover stuff like loss of income, just the cost of the accident treatment itself

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monkmith posted...

but then how would insurance companies be able to make fuck tons of money!

Insurance is easily the biggest scam of all time. Hey give us money every month of your life and then when you actually need it we will make every excuse possible not to cover it. Its bullshit.

teep_ posted...

medical insurance wouldn't cover stuff like loss of income, just the cost of the accident treatment itself

I get it. I just feel with the amount of money insurance and employers make it should be easily possible for insurance to cover bills and companies to give paid medical leave.

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MrDrMan posted...

companies to give paid medical leave

Oh boy, have I got good news for you

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on a human level, it's great that he'll get everything covered

but from a legal perspective, that's nuts. he wasn't "working" when he was walking down the stairs. it also says he was going from his bedroom to his office, implying he had just woken up. if he had gotten in a car wreck on the way to work in the morning, would the company have paid? of course not.

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