Resigned after trusting mayor’s promise of a “Grade 7 civil service job,” but failed... Supreme Court orders 31 million won in damages

[Financial News] A former fixed-term civil servant at Paju City Hall in Gyeonggi Province who resigned after believing the mayor’s promise to promote them to Grade 7, but then failed the recruitment exam, has won a final victory in a lawsuit against former Paju Mayor Kim Kyung-il.
According to Yonhap News Agency on the 7th, the First Petty Bench of the Supreme Court of Korea, with Justice Ma Yong-joo serving as the justice in charge, rejected former Mayor Kim’s appeal and upheld the lower court’s ruling ordering 31 million won plus interest to be paid to A. A, a former fixed-term civil servant in Paju-si, had filed the suit against Kim and Paju-si seeking damages for tortious conduct.
In August 2022, while in their 12th year as a fixed-term civil servant in Paju-si, A heard from a staff member in former Mayor Kim’s office that “the mayor contacted us and said to promote you to Grade 7 as a reward for your performance.” Believing this, A did not apply to extend their term as a Grade 9 fixed-term civil servant and resigned to take the Grade 7 recruitment exam, but failed the fixed-term civil servant recruitment exam in January 2023.
A filed a civil suit in March of the following year and lost at trial in February last year.
However, in June, the Civil Division 5-2 of Uijeongbu District Court, presided over by Judge Hwang Young-hee, overturned the lower court’s ruling on appeal and ruled in A’s favor.
The court found that “the Paju mayor promised A a Grade 7 position by telling A, in effect, that the mayor would get A to pass the open competitive examination for appointment as a Grade 7 civil servant, and, through Paju-si employees, advised A, who trusted the promise, not to seek an extension of their term as a Grade 9 fixed-term civil servant.” It further found that “with even a little care, the unlawful result of the mayor’s promise of a Grade 7 position could easily have been foreseen. It is reasonable to view the mayor’s failure to take this into account as gross negligence involving a marked lack of care.”
The court also ruled that “had the Paju mayor not promised A a Grade 7 position, it is reasonable to conclude that A would have chosen to extend their term and continued working as a regular fixed-term Grade 9 civil servant until early January 2023, when the two-year term expired.” It added that “the mayor is liable for the losses suffered by A, who relied on the promise that the mayor would get A to pass the open competitive examination for appointment as a Grade 7 civil servant and therefore did not seek an extension of their term. Paju-si is liable under Article 2 of the State Compensation Act for damages arising from the mayor’s unlawful conduct in the performance of duties related to appointments.”
[email protected] Kim Su-yeon Reporter