Frenchman who died having sex on work trip is 'victim of a professional accident'

A court has ruled the man died on the job. Photo / 123RF

A French court has ruled that a man who died from a heart attack after having sex with a woman he met on a business trip was a "victim of a professional accident".

The ruling lands his employers with a large compensation bill, to be paid to the dead man's family.

The man, named in court documents as Xavier X, was working for the French railway construction firm TSO when he met a woman during a business trip in 2013.

The pair retired to a hotel room and Xavier was found dead shortly after the pair had sex.

His death was classified as an "accident du travail" by French labour authorities, a decision that meant that Xavier's family are entitled to state benefits and a contribution from his employer.

TSO fought the decision through the courts but lost every appeal it made.

It will now have to contribute to his pension after the state pays his family 80 per cent of his salary up to what would have been his retirement age.

The decision upholds a 2016 ruling that found that "a sexual encounter is an act of normal life like taking a shower or eating a meal".

TSO's arguments were based on the facts that he was not in the hotel room organised by the company when he died and that he was committing adultery.

This case isn't the first time France's labour laws have been tested in this area, with a court ruling in 2017 that a company was liable for an injury to a businessman's hand, even though it was sustained at a disco in China at 2am while he was off duty.