Security guard in China dies while having sex at work, court rules it a work-related injury

Family in China awarded compensation after security guard dies while having sex at work

A decade-old legal battle in China has reached its conclusion, with a court ruling in favour of a family seeking compensation after a security guard died while on duty during an intimate encounter with his girlfriend.

The incident, which occurred in 2014, sparked a lengthy legal dispute over whether the death qualified as a work-related injury under the country’s Regulation on Work-related Injury Insurance.

After multiple appeals, courts ultimately deemed the case an industrial accident, entitling the man’s family to financial compensation.

Security guard dies suddenly while on duty

On 6 October 2014, a security guard in his 60s, referred to as “Zhang”, invited his girlfriend to the guardroom of a shuttered wool factory in Shunyi District, Beijing, where he was posted as the sole 24-hour security officer.

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While the couple was having sex inside the guardroom around noon, Mr Zhang collapsed and died suddenly.

A police investigation later confirmed the cause of death as sudden cardiac arrest, ruling out any criminal involvement.

In December 2015, Mr Zhang’s son applied to the Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau to have his father’s death classified as a work-related injury.

Under China’s work injury regulations, deaths due to sudden illness at the workplace during working hours can be treated as industrial accidents.

However, on 17 Feb 2016, the bureau denied the request, arguing that Mr Zhang died while engaging in a personal, non-work-related activity — specifically, being intimate with his girlfriend.

Case brought before court

Unconvinced by the decision, Mr Zhang’s son filed a lawsuit naming both the bureau and the security company, arguing that his father’s death should qualify as a work-related injury because of the unique conditions of his job.

Mr Zhang’s son told the court that his father had been the only security guard assigned to the factory, required to be on duty 24 hours a day, with no opportunity to leave his post.

Since the guardroom also served as his living quarters, any personal activity — such as meeting his girlfriend — had to take place there.

“As an adult male, it was normal for my father to have emotional needs,” the son said during the proceedings. “He remained at his post and never left the workplace.”

He stated that rest is a worker’s right, and romantic interaction should be considered a form of psychological and physical recovery, similar to eating or sleeping.

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Therefore, although his father was engaged in a personal act, he was still within his workplace and during working hours, fulfilling the conditions for a presumptive work injury under Article 15 of the Work-related Injury Insurance Scheme.

Compensated for father’s untimely death

The court ruled in favour of Mr Zhang’s son, determining that his father’s sudden death qualified as a work-related injury.

Since the death occurred during working hours and at the workplace, it fulfilled the legal conditions for a presumptive industrial accident.

Although the security company and the bureau filed an appeal, the court upheld the original verdict, affirming that Mr Zhang’s 24-hour duty arrangement left no separation between his work and personal life.

On 24 Feb 2017, the bureau complied with the ruling and issued an official certificate formally recognising Mr Zhang’s death as a workplace-related incident.

While the exact amount of compensation awarded to the family has not been publicly disclosed, the case set a precedent in the interpretation of work injury law under exceptional job conditions.