Sex mishap: Australian female bureaucrat wins compensation over 'office time' accident

An Australian bureaucrat who was injured while having sex in a motel room during a business trip has won a five-year legal battle against the federal government for worker's compensation.

AP on Monday read the reasons cited by the Full Bench of the Federal Court gave for the mishap on Dec. 13 for rejecting an appeal by the government's insurer Comcare against an earlier court declaration that the woman was injured in the course of her employment.

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The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was staying in a motel in the town of Nowra, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of her hometown of Sydney, on Nov. 26, 2007, when she had sex with a male friend in her room.

She was then aged in her late 30s.

During the sex, a glass light fitting was torn from its mount above the bed and landed on her face, injuring her nose and mouth. The courts have not decided on whether the woman or the man dislodged the light, ruling that factor irrelevant to the case.

The woman was treated in hospital for her injuries. She later suffered depression and was unable to continue working for the government.

Her claim for worker's compensation for her physical and psychological injuries was initially approved by Comcare then rejected after further investigation.

She unsuccessfully appealed to the government's Administrative Appeals Tribunal which reviews bureaucrats' decisions. The tribunal agreed with Comcare that her injuries were not suffered in the course of her employment.

The tribunal found that the government had not induced or encouraged the woman's sexual conduct and could not have reasonably expected that she would have contemplated it.

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