Teacher Dismissed for Sexual Joke During Class... Loses Lawsuit Challenging Disciplinary Action

Court: "Difficult to See Any Defect in the Dismissal Procedure"

A middle school teacher who was dismissed for making inappropriate remarks, such as sexual jokes during class, filed a lawsuit challenging the disciplinary action but lost the case.

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] A middle school teacher who was dismissed after it was revealed that he made inappropriate remarks causing students to feel sexual shame during class filed a civil lawsuit challenging the disciplinary action but lost the case.

On the 11th, the Civil Division 11 of Incheon District Court (Presiding Judge Jung Chang-geun) announced that former middle school teacher Mr. A lost the lawsuit seeking confirmation of the invalidity of his dismissal filed against School Corporation B.

Previously, in 2018, while working as a teacher at a middle school in Incheon, Mr. A was found to have made inappropriate remarks to students during class, such as saying "I like it when skirts are short" and mentioning the 'five stages of kissing.' Mr. A's remarks were uncovered through a comprehensive investigation by the Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education during the period when students were raising 'School Me Too' (Me too - I was also a victim) allegations of sexual violence within the school.

As a result of the comprehensive investigation conducted by the Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education targeting students at the middle school where Mr. A worked, out of a total of 302 sexual violence cases, 197 were related to Mr. A. The victimized students reported feeling "embarrassed and uncomfortable" and described the remarks as "dirty and shameful."

The Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education requested School Corporation B to dismiss Mr. A for violating the duty to maintain dignity. However, the school's teacher disciplinary committee decided on a two-month suspension and issued the disciplinary action without notifying the education office of the decision.

After receiving the disciplinary results belatedly, the Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education requested a reconsideration, and in July 2020, the school corporation dismissed Mr. A.

In response, Mr. A filed a civil lawsuit claiming that the dismissal was illegal since the initial two-month suspension had already been finalized.

However, the court ruled that the first disciplinary action of a two-month suspension was lawfully canceled and that the dismissal was not illegal.

The court explained, "It is difficult to view the education office's request for reconsideration at that time as illegal or to find any procedural defects in the dismissal process," and added, "This does not constitute double punishment."

Furthermore, the court pointed out, "Only a very small portion of Mr. A's misconduct-related remarks were within the scope of school violence prevention education, and most cannot be considered educational purposes," and stated, "Mr. A's misconduct constitutes sexual harassment and damages the dignity of a teacher."

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