Screenshot helps worker win recognition for icy fall on his way to work
A worker born in Morocco fought the Aube CPAM to have a fall on his way to work recognized as a commuting accident. His employer disputed, among other things, his working hours, but several pieces of evidence persuaded the Troyes judicial court to rule in his favor.
On January 17, 2025, the 55-year-old man was walking to work, where he was due to start at 6 a.m. He says he slipped on a patch of ice in a public parking lot and injured his left ankle. At 5:35 a.m., he messaged his supervisor to say he had sprained it.
His employer raised questions about the circumstances of the accident. According to the employer, the worker lives only five minutes from his workplace. Why would he have left so early if he was due to start at 6 a.m.? The CPAM ultimately refused to recognize the accident as having occurred on his commute, and upheld that decision after an initial appeal.
A screenshot that changes the case
Before the Troyes judicial court, the worker provided a precise answer. A screenshot from a route-planning website showed that his walk took 17 minutes, not five. He also explained that he had to arrive around 5:50 a.m. to have time to put on his work uniform.
Other evidence supported his account. Weather records confirmed below-freezing temperatures on the morning of the accident. The message sent at 5:35 a.m. showed that he reported his injury immediately, while a medical certificate issued that same day documented a sprain of the outer ligaments of his left ankle.
The CPAM pointed out that no one had witnessed the fall and that the worker did not see his doctor until 9 a.m. His employer had also cited a previous disciplinary warning and complaints about his conduct at work.
In its ruling of October 9, 2026, the court dismissed these arguments. The disciplinary record was unrelated to the accident, and the law does not require a witness to be present. The judges found that the evidence gathered was sufficiently precise and consistent to establish that the fall occurred on the way to work.
Born in Morocco on March 12, 1969, the worker thus won recognition of his commuting accident, more than a year and a half after it happened. The Aube CPAM was ordered to pay the costs and must now assess his entitlement to compensation on that basis. The court did not set an amount in its ruling.
