Australia Rules that Sex Injuries are Not Compensable

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Australia has ruled that work insurance is not responsible for injuries resulting from recreational sex. One Australian government employee, a woman who experienced such an injury in her late 30s, sought compensation from Comcare for her mishap, and when she was denied, made the matter legal. She was denied reimbursement for injuries in the first ruling, but had this overturned in a subsequent appeal’s court in 2012. The matter has finally been settled today at the High Court of Australia, which said that since she was not encouraged by her employer to have sex, the injury is not work-related.

This is a “victory for common sense,” as Minister for Employment Eric Abetz said, and as reported by Bloomberg. “Instances such as this where an employee seeks to stretch the boundaries of entitlements are of great concern.”

  

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How much stretching the woman did is uncertain, but the nature of her injury, which you must be wondering about right now, concerned her visit to New South Wales in 2007 to observe a budget review. She met an old friend, chatting led to dinner, dinner led to a motel, and the motel lead to sex, at which point a glass fitting overhead fell from its mount and smashed her face, busting her nose, mouth, and causing, as she says, psychological injuries. She was taken to a hospital after the incident.

“The circumstances in which the employee was injured must be connected to an inducement or encouragement by the employer,” said the court’s majority in their summary statement. Since this woman took it on herself to ignite an old flame, it has nothing much to do with her work, and so does not qualify for Comcare reimbursement.

The high court therefore, in the case of Comcare v. PVYW. 2013/HCA41, ruled in favor of Comcare, and the woman has to pay for her own sex-related injuries.