Important decision
An injury sustained by an employee in a fall caused by a sudden medical condition may also be considered a work-related injury. In its ruling, Case No. 21 Cdo 1913/2026, the Supreme Court emphasized that what matters is not the cause of the fall itself, but what caused the specific injury. If an employee faints and is injured only upon impact with the floor or another object, it may constitute a work-related injury.
The case involved a production worker who fainted while on the job, fell onto a concrete floor, and suffered a serious head injury. The lower courts rejected her claim for compensation, arguing that the cause of the fall was her own medical condition—that is, an internal cause. However, the Supreme Court overturned their decision. According to the court, the cause of the fall must be distinguished from the cause of the injury: the fainting itself did not cause the head injury; rather, it was the impact with the floor—which constitutes a short-term, sudden, and violent external force—that caused the injury.
This does not mean that every medical complication that occurs at work constitutes a work-related injury. A heart attack, stroke, or other internal medical condition alone is generally insufficient unless an external traumatic event contributes to the injury. The new ruling is significant in that the Supreme Court explicitly addressed this issue for the first time and confirmed that an employee cannot be excluded from the protection of the Labor Code merely because the fall was preceded by fainting or another sudden illness.
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