Grandson of Private High School Founder Denied Reappointment... Wins Damages Lawsuit Against School Corporation

Seoul Central District Court / Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

The grandson of the founder of a private high school in Seoul, who was refused reappointment as a regular teacher after serving as principal, won a lawsuit filed by his father against the school foundation where he is the honorary chairman. Established in the 1930s, this school has produced many famous figures, including politicians.

According to the legal community on the 28th, Judge Shin Jong-yeol of Civil Division 23 at the Seoul Central District Court ruled partially in favor of former principal Kim against the school foundation B Academy in a damages lawsuit. The court ordered, "The foundation shall pay Kim 16.28 million KRW in damages for property loss and compensation for mental suffering." It also stated, "It is recognized that Kim could have earned an annual salary of approximately 75.4 million KRW if appointed as a teacher," and ordered, "Until the reinstatement process is completed, payment shall be made calculated at this rate."

Kim, the grandson of the founder of A High School and son of the honorary chairman, worked at the school since 1996. Appointed principal in 2012, he was notified of mandatory retirement by the school in February last year as his term was about to expire, and he applied for reappointment as a regular teacher. The foundation held a board meeting and rejected Kim’s teacher appointment, resulting in his mandatory retirement.

Displeased with the decision, Kim filed an appeal with the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education’s Teacher Appeal Committee in March last year, requesting cancellation of the refusal to reappoint. In July of the same year, the committee ruled that the refusal was illegal and unjust, stating it was an abuse of the appointing authority’s discretion, and ordered the cancellation of the refusal. Nevertheless, the foundation refused Kim’s reappointment and filed a lawsuit at the Seoul Administrative Court seeking to overturn the committee’s decision. Subsequently, Kim filed a lawsuit claiming unpaid salary and compensation for mental suffering if he was not appointed as a regular teacher.

In court, Kim’s side argued, "The refusal to appoint him as a teacher was retaliation for raising issues regarding misconduct by his father, the honorary chairman, while serving as principal," and claimed, "This constitutes an illegal act." Indeed, due to Kim’s allegations, his father and the accounting officer were found to have committed some accounting irregularities, including private use of the foundation’s credit card, during a special audit by the education office in 2019, and were reportedly reported to the prosecution. On the other hand, the foundation argued, "The teacher appointment relationship is not established solely by the appeal committee’s decision," and "The majority opinion was that Kim’s appointment as a teacher was inappropriate, leading to the refusal."

The court ruled in favor of Kim. The judgment stated, "The foundation’s failure to conduct a teacher appointment review following the appeal committee’s decision to cancel the refusal without justifiable reasons causes instability in the legal status of the applicant and maintaining such instability constitutes an illegal act by intent or negligence." It further ruled, "The foundation did not merely abuse its discretion but intentionally infringed upon Kim’s legitimate rights, constituting an illegal act."

Meanwhile, the foundation also lost the lawsuit it filed at the Seoul Administrative Court seeking to overturn the appeal committee’s decision. The presiding Administrative Division 1 (Chief Judge Ahn Jong-hwa) dismissed the foundation’s claim in last month’s ruling, stating, "The foundation abused its discretion by refusing Kim’s appointment without a fair review based on reasonable standards."

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