Court Rules Seminary That Disciplinary Action Against Students for Attending Worship in 'Mujigae Ot' Must Compensate Students

"The defendant (the school) abused its authority over disciplinary actions and academic administration throughout a series of processes, unlawfully infringing upon the plaintiffs' (students') rights to learn and freedom of conscience, thereby causing intangible damages including mental distress to the plaintiffs."

After theological seminary students who wore rainbow clothing to show solidarity with sexual minorities and attended on-campus worship services were disciplined by the school, they engaged in years of legal battles with the school and finally won recognition of the school's liability for damages in the appellate court. The first trial ruling, which had rejected the students' claims, was overturned.

According to the court on the 27th, the Seoul High Court Civil Division 9 (Presiding Judge Nam Seong-min) recently ruled partially in favor of the plaintiffs in the appeal case where four students from the Presbyterian Theological Seminary, including Oh Se-chan, sued the school for damages amounting to 95 million KRW. The court stated, "The defendant ordered follow-up measures without basis in the disciplinary regulations after the disciplinary action," and ordered the school to pay each student between 2 million and 3 million KRW.

The appellate court noted, "(The plaintiffs) resigned from their positions as church evangelists or failed the pastoral examination," and added, "It is hard to believe that the fact of being disciplined by the defendant, which is recognized for its authority in training pastors, did not affect the plaintiffs' external disadvantages at all."

The court also judged that the school infringed on the students' personality rights by compiling the disciplinary actions into a booklet and submitting it to the General Assembly Secretariat, thereby lowering their social evaluation. However, the court did not accept the demand to post the disciplinary lawsuit loss results on the school's website.

Earlier, on May 17, 2018, the students attended an on-campus worship service wearing "rainbow clothes." Photos taken after the service were shared on social networking service (SNS) accounts. Their actions were based on the Presbyterian General Assembly's resolution stating, "We oppose homosexuality but regard homosexuals not as objects of hatred and exclusion but as subjects of love and change."

The problem began when the school imposed disciplinary measures such as indefinite suspension, probation, and submission of reflection letters on the students in response to backlash from some Protestant groups. The students filed injunctions to suspend the disciplinary actions and lawsuits to nullify the disciplinary measures against the school and won all cases in court.

The injunction court stated, "The school also announced the disciplinary process indicating that it judged the students acted with the intention of opposing hatred, not supporting or endorsing homosexuality," and added, "There is insufficient evidence to recognize that the students' actions disrupted or interfered with the worship, nor can it be considered an illegal event." The court that ruled on the nullification of the disciplinary actions also sided with the students, citing procedural defects in the disciplinary process.

Nevertheless, the school did not immediately lift the disciplinary actions, arguing that "the procedure was illegal, but the content was not." The school even changed the school regulations to make disciplinary actions easier.

The students filed this damages lawsuit, stating, "Our careers as pastors became jeopardized as we were stigmatized by the denomination, resigned from evangelist positions, or failed the pastoral examination." The first trial dismissed the students' claims. While acknowledging the school's fault in not immediately removing the appearance of the suspended disciplinary actions following the injunction decision, it did not recognize any additional damages suffered by the students.

Regarding this appellate ruling, lawyer Park Han-hee from Hope Makes Law, representing the students, said, "It was recognized that the school abused its disciplinary authority and harassed the students," and added, "The court pointed out that the students suffered pain and corrected the school's wrongdoing." Oh, one of the plaintiffs, said, "There are many other cases of suffering from similar incidents besides us. I hope this ruling becomes a cornerstone for change in the church and society."

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