The Federal Social Court of Germany has ruled that a man who slipped while walking from bed to the computer he uses may be eligible for industrial accident insurance because he officially went to work, reports The Guardian.
The man was working from home and was descending a spiral staircase to a work desk, one floor below his bedroom, when he slipped and broke his vertebra. The employer's insurance company did not consider the injury "production" and refused to cover the costs, so the German went to court.
Two lower courts refused to consider the trip from the bed to the home office a "trip" to work, but the German Federal Social Court ordered the man to be compensated.
The judge ruled that the German usually went to work "immediately, without having breakfast first". Under German law, accident insurance is only provided in the case of a "first" trip to work, so if a person goes to breakfast in the kitchen and falls, his claim may not be granted.
"The plaintiff suffered an accident at work when he fell on his way to his home office in the morning," the ruling said. According to the court's decision, if the insurance activity is carried out at home or in another place where the employee works, insurance coverage should be provided in the same amount as when performing activity in the office.
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