Woman sues over 'sex at work'
2011-07-27 10:04
Sydney - An Australian woman injured when a hotel room light fitting fell and hit her on the face while she was having sex on a work trip sued the government on Wednesday, claiming she was entitled to compensation.
The woman suffered injuries to her nose, mouth and a tooth and was mentally scarred after the glass fitting fell from the wall over the bed and struck her in the face as she had sex, her lawyer said.
A government employee, she was staying overnight at a rural hotel ahead of a meeting and has lodged a case in the Federal Court claiming she should get damages because the incident happened while she was on official business.
Her lawyer, Leo Grey, told judge John Nicholas the woman was hurt in "an ordinary incident of life commonly undertaken in a motel room at night", and she was not required to get official permission to have someone in her room.
"This is not the 1920s after all," said Grey.
ComCare, the government's workplace safety agency, is opposing the claim, saying the sex was with an acquaintance who had nothing to do with work and was a "frolic of her own".
Comcare lawyer Andrew Berger said people on government business needed to eat, sleep and attend to their personal hygiene but "you don't need to have sex".
