Supreme Court: "Dismissal Reasons Recorded in Meeting Minutes Also Constitute a Lawful 'Dismissal Notice'"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The Supreme Court has ruled that notifying an employee of dismissal by delivering meeting minutes summarizing the reasons for dismissal does not violate the Labor Standards Act.

On the 26th, the Supreme Court's Third Division (Presiding Justice Kim Jaehyung) announced that it overturned the lower court's ruling, which had ruled against the plaintiff in the appeal case filed by Corporation A against the Central Labor Relations Commission's decision to dismiss an unfair dismissal relief reconsideration, and remanded the case to the Seoul High Court.

Previously, in 2019, Corporation A signed a one-year employment contract with Mr. B to work at its local subsidiary in Indonesia. However, it was revealed that Mr. B had received false tax invoices from a client, and Corporation A was unable to receive a value-added tax refund. Subsequently, Corporation A dismissed Mr. B and handed over the meeting minutes at the time of the dismissal decision.

However, Mr. B filed a specific application claiming that the 'dismissal notification through meeting minutes' violated the Labor Standards Act, which was accepted by the Central Labor Relations Commission. In response, Corporation A filed a lawsuit seeking to cancel the commission's ruling.

The first trial ruled against Corporation A, judging that the content of the meeting minutes alone did not provide specific and substantial reasons for dismissal. The second trial also upheld this judgment and dismissed Corporation A's appeal.

However, the Supreme Court ordered a retrial and reconsideration of the case. The court stated, "Mr. B was already aware of the specific reasons for dismissal and was able to respond adequately. Even if the employee's faults leading to dismissal were somewhat summarized in writing and prepared in the form of meeting minutes, it is difficult to consider this a violation of the Labor Standards Act."

It added, "The lower court misapplied the legal principles regarding written notification of dismissal, which affected the judgment."

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