Accidents on the way to and from work and aggravated pre-existent disease: Possible but problematic pathway to qualify as occupational accident Judgment of the Supreme Court of 15 July 2015, RCUD 1594/2014

Abstract

The matter at hand in the Judgment of the Supreme Court of 15 July 2015, RCUD 1594/2014 is to determine the origin, common or professional, of the total permanent disability granted to the claimant. More specifically, it is debated whether the accident on the way to and from work that the claimant suffered may have aggravated a pre-existing common disease. The controversy is settled by admitting the existence of an occupational accident, applying two of the non-rebuttable presumption contained in article 156.2 of the Social Security Law currently in force. This amounts to a change in case law by using a forced qualification, in order to ensure a better protection of the employee, continuing the tendency to search at all costs the connection with the employment for the purposes of qualification of the labour contingency, with the risk of expanding even more the legal definition of occupational accident, which calls for a reorientation.