German Court Rules that Man Who Fell While Walking from Bed to Desk Suffered Workplace Accident

• A German court ruled out the employee was entitled to compensation after hurting himself while ''heading to work''
• The employee fell while working from his bed to his desk in his home office and injured himself
• The company had initially and reportedly refused to compensate the employee

A German man will be smiling all the way to the bank after a court ruled out that he needs to be compensated by his employer following an accident at his home.

Workplace accident

According to the court ruling, the man slipped on the stairs and hurt himself while walking to his home office from bed.

Independent UK reported that the German court deemed the unfortunate incident a “workplace accident”.

In the Germany's Federal Social Court ruling on Wednesday, December 8, the man won big as the judicial service confirmed he was entitled to compensation.

“The plaintiff suffered an accident at work when he fell on the way to his home office in the morning,” the court said.

The court insisted the man got injured while on a commute along an insured work route as he went to work(home office) from his bedroom located one floor below.

Employer refuses to pay

YEN.com.gh understands the man's employer had reportedly refused to cover the claim.

Reports indicate that the case was heard at a lower social court that deemed the journey to be an “insured work route”.

However, a regional social court said it was an “uninsured preparatory act that only precedes the actual activity” and deemed the injury to be ineligible for insurance claims.

The higher federal social court, on the other hand disagreed with the regional social court and insisted the journey the man took was the “first” one undertaken to begin work.

Court ruling

The court added that the employee usually began work at his home office “immediately without having breakfast beforehand”.

The court made it clear that the law was applicable for employees in “teleworking positions” who have permanent workstations set up at their homes.

YEN.com.gh cannot clearly confirm if the man was working from home because of the COVID-19 pandemic or of some other reasons.

Source: YEN.com.gh