Death after sex on work trip classified as workplace accident under French labour law

France is well known for its strong labour laws, but a 2019 case involving a man who died after sex on a work trip highlights just how far employees are protected.

Sent by his bosses at a railway engineering services firm to a work site away from his base in 2013, the employee had a hotel room booked and paid for by the company.

On the night in question, the man did not sleep in the hotel after finishing his shift. He met a woman and went to her home, where they had sex before he died in her bed, just after 22:00.

The woman called the gendarmes, who called the employer, who in due time informed the Caisse primarie d’assurance maladie (CPAM) that their employee had died and was no longer on their records.

The CPAM, however, considered the death an accident du travail, as it had occurred during the time the employee was on a work trip.

The classification requires employers inform the inspection du travail of the event within the 12 hours of the accident, and make a formal déclaration d’accident du travail (DAT) outlining the facts within 48 hours. This is followed by a detailed report within 10 days of the initial DAT.

After this comes an obligatory inspection of the work premises by at least one inspector from the CPAM and/or an inspection from a social security body such as Carsat, Cramif or CGSS.

During the visit, the inspector informs the employer of any financial consequences regarding their compulsory payments to the fund for work and professional illness (AT/MP).

The employer must also write a formal analysis of the accident, in consultation with workplace representatives, and describe measures put in place to ensure it does not happen again.

In the case of the work trip employee, classification of his death as an accident du travail meant his surviving family could claim a monthly payment (rente) from CPAM equal to 40% of his salary.

To cover this rente, the employer was required to increase payments to the AT/MP fund.

The employer subsequently challenged the accident du travail ruling before a social security tribunal.

Judges dismissed the case, saying that although the death took place outside of the hotel room reserved by the company, the man was still legally under the care of his employer when he died.

The judges added: “To have sexual relations is part of everyday life, like taking a shower or having a meal.”

An appeal in 2019 was also dismissed.

Other misadventures judged to be an accident du travail have included a back injury suffered by an employee while dancing at 03:00 in a nightclub in China, and injuries to a cabin crew member from skateboarding while on a stopover in Florida.

Cases such as these also emphasise the difference between protection for salaried and self-employed workers in France.

In one well-known case, a freelance motoring journalist suffered a fatal heart attack in the United States while alone in a hotel room funded by the car manufacturer whose vehicle he was testing for a commissioned magazine article. 

He was ultimately interred in a pauper’s grave in the US, as there was no means to cover the cost of repatriating his body to France.