Company Sued When Employee Got Injured Having Sex on A Business Trip
How far should employer liability go when we head off on trips in the name of business? Apparently it extends all the way to our bedroom activities. An Australian is suing her employer after injuring herself during sex whilst on a business trip.
The lady comically works for ComCare, who are the Australian government's workplace safety organization. Suffice to say, having sex wasn't part of her job in anyway, and her sexual partner was not a colleague or in any way associated with her job. Alas the pair managed to send a glass light fitting crashing from the ceiling above the bed, causing injuries to her nose, mouth and tooth, as well as “a consequent psychiatric injury”.
The claim was perhaps understandably rejected by ComCare back in 2007, with the reasonable defense that sex was not part of her job, nor an ordinary part of an overnight stay, hence the subsequent suit.
Her lawyer, Leo Grey, told a federal court there was no suggestion she’d engaged in misconduct. Her injury, he said, occurred during “an ordinary incident of life commonly undertaken in a motel room at night.” He pointed out that “there had not been any rule that employees should not have anyone else in their room without express permission of their department.”
ComCare has argued that “neither legal authority nor common sense” could find the injury was sustained during the course of her employment.
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