A court has ruled that the suspension disciplinary action imposed by Seoul city on a public servant, who contacted a student privately after obtaining the student's mobile phone number through a university academic information inquiry, is justified.
According to the legal community on the 22nd, the Seoul Administrative Court's Administrative Division 1 ruled against the plaintiff in the lawsuit filed by public servant A, who works at a university, seeking to cancel the suspension imposed by Seoul city.
In June 2022, public servant A obtained the phone number of person B through an academic status inquiry on the university administration information system. A is said to have called B the following month, asking whether B had a boyfriend and saying things like "If you don't have a boyfriend, I intended to pursue you."
In March of the following year, Seoul city determined that A's actions violated the duty of diligence and duty to maintain dignity stipulated in the Local Public Officials Act and imposed a one-month suspension as a disciplinary action. A filed for a review with the Seoul Metropolitan Government Local Right of Appeal Committee but was dismissed, and consequently filed an administrative lawsuit.
The court found that although A's actions couldn't be conclusively classified as sexual harassment according to social norms, they did constitute a violation of the duty of diligence and the duty to maintain dignity. A argued that the suspension was excessively severe, claiming it exceeded and abused discretion. However, the court ruled that considering the content related to relationships between genders, the misconduct by A couldn't be regarded as minor.