Businesswoman injured in hotel room romp wins payout

A frisky businesswoman injured having sex in a hotel is looking forward to a bumper payout after winning her battle for industrial compensation.

The civil servant was making love to a friend during a work trip when a glass light fitting was torn from its mount above the bed.

Enthusiastic wench, wot?

She was taken to hospital in the town of Nowra, 100 miles south of her hometown of Sydney, Australia, for treatment and later suffered depression which forced her to give up her job.

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

A tribunal agreed with Comcare that her injuries were not suffered in the course of her employment, saying the government had not induced or encouraged the woman's sexual conduct.

Unlike the U.S. government, which screws its employees and citizens at every opportunity.

The tribunal also found the sex was "not an ordinary incident of an overnight stay" such as showering, sleeping and eating.

I used to travel on business quite frequently. I can testify that sex was not an ordinary part of my overnight stays, no matter how much I wished otherwise. However...

That ruling was overturned in the Federal Court, when Judge John Nicholas rejected the tribunal's findings that the sex had to be condoned by the government if she were to qualify for compensation.

I don't pretend to understand Australian law, but it beggars common sense that an intensely personal act such as intercourse -- especially outside of normal business hours and away from one's place of employment -- can be considered as grounds for worker's compensation. Suppose I was on a business trip, stayed too long in the hotel bar, and tripped and fell on my way back to my room, injuring myself. Would I then be eligible for worker's comp?

Evidently so, if I worked for Uncle Sugar.