Australian wins compensation for work trip sex injury

The court ruled the woman should be compensated for the facial injuries she suffered

An Australian public servant who was injured while having sex on a work trip has won compensation in court, local media report.

The woman was hit by a glass light fitting above her bed while having sex at a motel in New South Wales in 2007.

Her workers' compensation claims for facial and psychological injuries were initially rejected.

But the judge ruled she had suffered the injuries during the course of her employment.

"If the applicant had been injured while playing a game of cards in her motel room she would have been entitled to compensation, even though it could not be said that her employer induced or encouraged her to engage in such an activity," Justice John Nicholas said.

"In the absence of any misconduct or an intentionally self-inflicted injury, the fact that the applicant was engaged in sexual activity rather than some other lawful recreational activity does not lead to any different result," he added.

The federal government employee, who is in her late 30s, said she suffered injuries to her nose, mouth and a tooth as a result of the glass light fitting hitting her face.

She reportedly also suffered from depression and anxiety.

Her employer had booked her stay at the motel before a work meeting the next day.

She sued Australia's federal government workplace safety body, ComCare, after it rejected her compensation claim. The rejection was also upheld by an appeals tribunal.

But Justice Nicholas said the appeals tribunal was wrong in saying that the woman had to prove her injury had been caused by an activity that had been "implied" or "encouraged" by her employer.