A court ruled that a delivery driver who died in an accident while heading home after a company dinner with colleagues that included alcohol was not the victim of an occupational accident and that the family is not eligible for survivor benefits. The reason was that the dinner was not hosted by the company.
The Seoul Administrative Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Judge Choi Su-jin) said on the 22nd that it dismissed on Jan. 23 a suit filed by A's bereaved family member B seeking to overturn the denial of survivor benefits and funeral expenses (葬儀費) from the Korea Workers' Compensation & Welfare Service (K-COMWEL).
A signed a consignment contract with an agency of a delivery company in Dec. 2022 and worked as a delivery driver. On Dec. 16, 2023, A had dinner with fellow delivery drivers working at the same establishment, and at about 12:30 a.m. the next day, fell while going home from an overpass. A was taken to a hospital for treatment after the accident and died on Feb. 7, 2024.
A's wife, B, sought survivor benefits and funeral expenses from the Korea Workers' Compensation & Welfare Service (K-COMWEL), saying "A's accident occurred while commuting home, so it constitutes an occupational accident." But in Oct. of the same year, the Korea Workers' Compensation & Welfare Service (K-COMWEL) denied survivor benefits and funeral expenses, saying the dinner where A died was "a non-work gathering voluntarily held by delivery drivers to promote fellowship."
The Seoul Administrative Court reached the same conclusion as the Korea Workers' Compensation & Welfare Service (K-COMWEL). It said the delivery drivers set the schedule and location and handled the notices on their own, and the establishment did not get involved. A colleague of A said, "The company neither ordered nor approved the dinner. The (delivery drivers) gathered to 'pump each other up.'"
The bench said, "It does appear that those at the dinner shared work know-how and discussed work-related topics such as worksites and measures to prevent lost parcels," adding, "Because they were all delivery drivers, it seems they naturally chose a common area of interest as the topic."