Verbal Abuse During Sexual Harassment Investigation... Court Says 'Reprimand Justified'

[Financial News] A civil servant who was under internal investigation for workplace sexual harassment and visited a superior to verbally abuse them during disciplinary leave was ruled to have been justly reprimanded by the court. The court judged that the reprimand was not excessive given the severity of the misconduct.
According to the legal community on the 15th, the Administrative Division 12 of the Seoul Administrative Court (Presiding Judge Kang Jae-won) recently ruled against civil servant A from Seoul City in a lawsuit to cancel the reprimand against the Seoul Mayor.
A was under investigation for workplace bullying, sexual harassment, and secondary harm to the victim in 2019 when he was ordered to take leave. However, during the leave, he returned to work without permission and was found to have verbally abused department head B, saying, "You reprimanded me for something that didn't even happen. Who do you think you are to reprimand? Arrogant. Mind your own business. You should be in trouble for sexual harassment."
In April 2020, A was dismissed for misconduct including sexual harassment, workplace bullying, and insulting a superior, but he filed a lawsuit to cancel the dismissal. In 2023, the court ruled that the allegations of sexual harassment and workplace bullying were not recognized, acknowledging only the insult to the superior as grounds for discipline and ordered the dismissal to be canceled.
Following this, Seoul City held a personnel committee last year and imposed a two-month salary reduction on A. In a subsequent appeal review, the disciplinary level was reduced to a reprimand.
A then filed another lawsuit claiming that his remarks to B were a justified response to B's incitement to report and defamation.
However, the court did not accept this. The court stated, "A's actions were not only inappropriate as a senior officer but also disrupted the hierarchical order within the organization and damaged the dignity of a civil servant," and judged that the reprimand was justified.
Furthermore, the court added, "A's misconduct occurred in violation of a job order aimed at separating him from the victim during the investigation following a report of workplace bullying and sexual harassment," and noted that the severity of the misconduct was greater than a simple insult to a superior, thus the disciplinary level was not deemed disproportionate.
The claim of procedural illegality was also not accepted. A argued that "Seoul City did not conduct an additional investigation before the discipline, which is procedurally illegal," but the court rejected this, stating, "There is no obligation for an additional investigation under the law, and the insult to the superior was already recognized as grounds for discipline in a previous ruling."
 
scottchoi15@fnnews.com Choi Eun-sol Reporter