Returned to Work Early After Cerebral Hemorrhage at Company’s Request and Died... Court Rules “Occupational Accident”

Forced to Return to Work Due to Lack of Staff
Severe Work-Related Stress Continued After Reinstatement

The court has ruled that survivors’ benefits must be paid to the bereaved family of a worker who, after recovering from a cerebral hemorrhage, returned to work at the company’s request and subsequently died as his health deteriorated due to work-related stress.

According to reports from Yonhap News and the legal community on September 13, the 8th Division of Administrative Litigation at the Seoul Administrative Court (presiding judge Yang Soonjoo) recently ruled in favor of the family of Mr. A in a lawsuit seeking to overturn the decision by the Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service to deny survivors’ benefits and funeral expenses.

Mr. A, who worked as head of the general affairs team at his company, suffered a cerebral hemorrhage at home in 2021 while complaining of stress caused by overwork, and was hospitalized. At the time of discharge, only about 50% of the vision in his left eye had recovered due to damage to the optic nerve, and as his muscle strength had not sufficiently returned, he was unable to walk unaided.

Seoul Administrative Court Building Exterior

The following year, Mr. A informed the company that he needed at least three more months to recover his health. Nevertheless, the company, claiming there was no available staff for settlement work, requested that he take on even just the settlement responsibilities. As a result, Mr. A returned to work ten weeks after being discharged and, with no actual personnel reinforcement, ended up handling not only settlements but also the entire range of general affairs team work. Over this period, he experienced significant work-related stress, including being reprimanded by the company president.

That same year, Mr. A died while receiving intensive care treatment for symptoms such as seizures and unconsciousness. The direct cause of death was diagnosed as spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage.

The bereaved family claimed Mr. A’s death constituted an occupational accident and demanded survivors’ benefits and funeral expenses; however, the Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service rejected the claim, arguing it was difficult to acknowledge a causal relationship between his work and death. The family responded by filing an administrative lawsuit challenging the decision.

The court determined that work-related stress exacerbated Mr. A’s cerebral hemorrhage and contributed to his death, thus ruling in favor of the bereaved family.

The panel stated, “He suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while complaining of stress due to overwork and returned to work at the company’s request before making a full recovery, even though a 12-week observation period was needed due to aftereffects.” It noted, “Even after returning to work, he appears to have experienced severe physical and mental stress, and it is presumed that such stress accelerated the progression of his pre-existing cerebral hemorrhage beyond its natural course.”

The court added that the findings of the judicial appraisal also supported the existence of a causal relationship between Mr. A’s work and death, and thus determined that the Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service’s decision was unlawful and should be revoked.

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