1. Case Overview

The deceased employee had suffered from pre‑existing medical conditions, including cerebral hemorrhage and ulcerative colitis, and had experienced significant work‑related burdens and stress in the course of employment.

After the employee’s health deteriorated and ultimately resulted in death, the bereaved family filed a claim with the Korea Workers’ Compensation & Welfare Service (KCOMWEL) seeking payment of survivors’ benefits and funeral expenses on the grounds that the death constituted an occupational accident.

However, KCOMWEL denied the claim, asserting that the death resulted from the natural progression of the employee’s pre‑existing illnesses.
Attorney Do‑hyung Kim represented the bereaved family and filed an administrative lawsuit seeking revocation of the denial decision.
 

2. Key Issues

The principal issues in this case were:

1. Whether a substantial causal relationship existed between the employee’s work‑related stress and death;

2. Whether the employee’s pre‑existing cerebral hemorrhage and ulcerative colitis progressed naturally or were aggravated by work‑related overwork and stress;

3. Whether an occupational accident may be recognized where work was not the direct cause of death but contributed to the aggravation of a pre‑existing illness.

In particular, because the deceased already suffered from significant pre‑existing medical conditions, the central issue was whether work had aggravated those conditions beyond their ordinary natural progression.
 

3. Legal Strategy

Attorney Do‑hyung Kim focused on establishing the causal relationship between the employee’s work and death.

First, he carefully reviewed medical records and treatment histories and systematically analyzed the relationship between the employee’s medical condition and working environment through the court’s medical expert review.

He further advanced the following legal arguments:

1. Under the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, causation need not be proven with absolute medical or scientific certainty, and a legally sufficient causal relationship may be established from a normative and legal perspective;

2. An occupational accident may be recognized where work‑related overwork or stress contributes to the occurrence or aggravation of a pre‑existing illness;

3. The causal relationship between work and disease should be assessed based on the particular employee’s health condition and physical characteristics rather than those of an average person.

Based on these principles, Attorney Kim successfully demonstrated that work‑related stress had aggravated the employee’s cerebral hemorrhage beyond its natural progression and had also worsened the employee’s ulcerative colitis, ultimately contributing to the cerebral hemorrhage and resulting death.
 

4. Significance of the Case

The court found that work‑related stress had aggravated the employee’s pre‑existing illnesses beyond their ordinary course and had ultimately contributed to the employee’s death.

Accordingly, the court recognized a substantial causal relationship between the employee’s work and death and revoked KCOMWEL’s decision denying survivors’ benefits and funeral expenses.

This case confirms that an occupational accident may be recognized even where an employee suffers from pre‑existing medical conditions, provided that work‑related overwork or stress contributes to the aggravation of those conditions and to the resulting death.

It is also a significant decision demonstrating how a combination of medical evidence and legal analysis can successfully establish causation and secure meaningful relief for bereaved family members.
 

Attorney Do‑hyung Kim | dhkim@onelawpartners.com
Public Relations Team, One Law Partners, LLC | pr@onelawpartners.com