High School Teacher Dismissed for Sexual Harassment and Verbal Abuse of Female Students... Court Says "Disciplinary Action Too Severe"

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[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Yeon-ju] A court ruling has found that the dismissal of a teacher who sexually harassed and made inappropriate remarks to a female high school student was too harsh.

The 11th Civil Division of Ulsan District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Joo-ok) announced on the 15th that it ruled the dismissal of Teacher A, who was fired for sexually harassing and verbally abusing a female high school student, was excessive in a lawsuit filed against School B, which dismissed him, seeking nullification of the dismissal.

The court ordered the school corporation of School B to pay Teacher A a total of about 73 million KRW in unpaid wages and interest for the one year following the dismissal.

The court stated, "While the plaintiff’s inappropriate physical contact with multiple students from 2016 to 2017 is grounds for disciplinary action, the degree of contact does not appear to be very severe, and there is no evidence of coercion of the students," adding, "Dismissal is a severe disciplinary action that deprives the status of the subject, and considering that the teacher had no other disciplinary actions during 25 years of service and received two commendations from the Minister of Education, the dismissal is too harsh."

It is known that the Gyeongnam Office of Education reported Teacher A to the police in October 2017 after receiving reports of sexual harassment and verbal abuse by some teachers at a girls’ high school in Gyeongnam.

At that time, the Gyeongnam Office of Education judged that Teacher A had engaged in inappropriate physical contact by pressing the shoulders, waist, back, and legs of female students who complained of pain in their waist or shoulders with both hands in the classroom, placing a student’s knee between his own knees, or linking arms with students.

Additionally, Teacher A was known to have repeatedly made inappropriate remarks to students during class.

Eventually, School B held a disciplinary committee in March 2018 and decided to dismiss Teacher A for sexual and emotional abuse and violation of maintaining dignity.

In response, Teacher A denied the sexual abuse and claimed that the verbal abuse was not severe, filing a lawsuit demanding the cancellation of the dismissal.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.