Man’s Death During Sex While On Business Trip Ruled ‘Workplace Accident’

Sep. 11--Boy, the things that workers' comp will cover these days.

While on a business trip, a technician for a French railway company died of a cardiac arrest after having sex with a woman he had met, BBC News reports.

Appeal court judges in Paris ruled recently that because Xavier X -- his name in court records -- was in Meung-sur-Loire, France, on assignment for TSO, the death counts as a workplace accident and his company is liable and his family is entitled to compensation.

According to court records, the company's lawyers argued the employee -- who was married -- was not performing professional duties at the time of his death in 2013, saying he was instead committing an "adulterous sex act that he had had with a complete stranger" in her hotel room.

However, the judges said that French workers on business trips are "entitled to their employer's protection for the duration of their mission ... whether or not the accident takes place as part of a professional activity or as an act of normal life."

The company was challenging a 2016 ruling by the state health insurance provider that categorized the death as an industrial accident. The Times of London reports in its ruling, the provider said "a sexual encounter is an act of normal life like taking a shower or eating a meal."

As a result of the latest ruling, the family -- partners and children -- will get a monthly benefit of up to 80% of his salary until what would have been his retirement age. After that, they will get a share of his pension.

Chris Pastrick is a Tribune-Review digital producer. You can contact Chris at 412-320-7898, [email protected] or via Twitter .

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