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Personal Injury and Fatal Accident Brief
September 2010
Welcome to the September edition of the Personal Injury and Fatal Accident Brief, where we
discuss injury arising out of the course of employment and entitlement to employees’
compensation.
Whilst injury sustained by an employee attending a social gathering organised by their employer is
likely to be regarded as “arising out of employment”, an employee who continues to celebrate on
their own following the end of a work gathering brings themselves outside the scope of
employment.
The recent decision of Chan Ho Yuen v Multi Circuit Board (China) Limited clarifies this point.
In the case, the employer organised an annual dinner for its Hong Kong staff, held in a hotel in
Shenzhen. Employees were free to decide whether or not to attend the annual dinner, and anyone
who chose not to attend stayed behind in the office to work.
The employer provided factory vehicles to take employees from Huanggang Customs Port to/from
the hotel. The employer also specified that drivers of these vehicles were not allowed to consume
alcohol at the annual dinner.
At the finish of the annual dinner, three employees went to a karaoke parlour to continue drinking.
On the way back, the car driven by one of the three employees was involved in a crash into a barrier
near the China/Hong Kong border, which resulted in the death of one employee and the serious
injury of another.
The family of the deceased and the injured employee argued that they were entitled to employees’
compensation since the accident arose out of and in the course of employment. They alleged that
the deceased and the injured employee went to the karaoke parlour to discuss business and
therefore, they were not out on an evening of their own.
The Court disagreed and held that the accident did not arise out of the course of employment. It
made the following observations:

An employee attending a social gathering organised by their employer is within the course of
employment because the function benefits the work carried out by the employee. The
employee and the function would be under the control of the employer. In this case, whilst the
employees were free to select as to whether or not to attend the annual dinner, anyone who
chose not to attend would have to stay in the office and work. Attending the annual dinner thus
falls within the course of employment.
The three employees in this case visited the karaoke parlour solely for their private
entertainment. This constituted a break in the course of employment.
The three employees could have taken the transportation provided by the employer after the
annual dinner to return to Hong Kong, but they decided not to and visited the karaoke parlour
instead. There was a deviation from the journey planned by the employer, a journey which the
employer had no control over. This brought the journey from the karaoke parlour to the border
outside the course of employment of the deceased and the injured employee.
Accordingly, their claims for employees’ compensation were dismissed by the Court.
We are always looking for feedback so please feel free to email us your comments and/or
suggestions for this bulletin.
Kelly Wong
Partner
k.wong@kennedys.com.hk
Meiling Yip
Partner
m.yip@kennedys.com.hk
Kennedys
11/F Hong Kong Club Building
3A Chater Road, Central
Hong Kong
T +852 2848 6300, F +852 2848 6333

PERSONAL INJURY AND FATAL ACCIDENT
CASE SUMMARY No. 107 (Aug 2010)
Plaintiff’s Name
Sex
Age at
DOA/
Trial
Pre-accident
Occupation
Nature of Injury
Multiplier
Award for
PSLA/ Total
Award
Award for
Loss of Future
Earnings
Date of
Judgment
Judge/
Court
Fu Chuen Sing
DCPI 2135/2009
DoA: 05/08/2010
Lam Po Wai
HCPI 695/2008
DoA: 19/10/2005
M --
M --
Distributor (on
overnight shift)
Lighting
Engineer
Sprained back whilst
trying to prevent the
falling of papers
Injuries to right hand
and wrist as a result
of losing balance
after stepping on a
socket board
--
13
$50,000 /
$70,124.15
$220,000 /
$2,858,085.63
-- 05/08/2010
$1,526,124.60
12/08/10
(Date of
handing
down
judgment :
24/08/2010)
Master S.
Lo
Hon Rogers
VP
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